#this was massive even for ferrari in keeping it together all weekend no mistakes and team work

[livetogether--diealone]

the liberating scream, the tearing up during the interview, the holding back the emotions with few laps to go so much he couldn’t see, from watching from under the podium to standing on the top step, you are so special charles

[goldsbitch]

Right? p7

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6

summary: Y/N is a photographer for McLaren F1 team. Hard working, goal oriented professional who would never put her career in jeopardy for some stupid crush, right?

You were a professional. That's what you used to believe, right?

One would wonder how would the teenage version of you felt seeing that you're putting your career on the line because of a boy. Was the pride, dignity and all the hard work worth a one night stand? All those years of hard work, blown away in one night.

It was a mix of ultimate regret and and a massive fuck you to your own sense of what was right or wrong. How could a unique memory like the one Lando gave you last weekend be wrong?

Your heart sank the moment you saw the first photo. And another and another. Your arrival to his house was documented from several angles.

The mystery girl. You were not sure whether to scream or cry. It was just a matter of time before someone would make the connection.

If you were to fall from grace and loose your job, you'd at least try to save your dignity over there. Many people before you had made these types of mistakes. You were not the first one nor last one. But before you made the dreaded call to your boss, you changed your mind back and forth seventy times, cursed yourself out loud in public, and at one point even slapped yourself in front of a mirror. There was absolutely no way you'd ever tell your family. They held you too highly and the fear of disappointing them was too big. Your mother's kind reassuring words were not something you needed to hear in the near future. But your boss, the one that gave you the chance in the first place, deserved to know it from you. After all she did for you, how much of a role model she had been, she deserved to be told directly by you. After all, she was the one who taught you that the worst thing to do when there is a fuck up is to try and lie about it to the team. Open door policy. This was a fuck up. A good one. The best one, right?

Lando called you few times. You did not answer.

Alessia was a mentor to you. Italian super boss who left the Ferrari team to run the McLaren media team. She liked you. Really did. So when you called her on a Sunday evening, she picked up and then spend a good hour on the phone with you. You told her everything, from start to the end. She was surprised, told you that it was your fault that you had compromised your job...but, she did not judge. Understood, as if she knew what you were describing. You dared not to ask.

To your surprise, there wasn't even one moment where she would suggest firing you. On the contrary, together you devised a plan for diversion of attention. Took one of the secret fake social media profiles you had in the database, for moments like these. She also had few prominent gossip profiles set up, which were now used to feed the curious crowd with a diversion - blame a fake person and they will be happy for a moment and then move on. It was not the first time this had been done for Lando, but for the first time without his knowledge or request. And of course, for someone who was a part of the team.

You were also instructed to get rid of all the clothes or things you had on you when you went to his house. Oh and you got a hair cut. Not something too dramatic, but your long hair that used to fall to the middle of your back was now a wolf cut with proper bangs, done hastily on a Monday morning by a private hair dresser.

Alessia was also pretty blunt about the fact you had to stop the affair with Lando immediately if you wanted to keep your job. You'd be assigned either to Oscar or behind the scenes content - not Lando Norris. It was all so fast and cut with adrenaline induced fear that you dared not to object. Or even think about it.

When Lando saw those pictures in the morning, he paid little to no attention to them. Just another attempt of bad journalists to make some easy money. He was not going to give in. Only later on during the day he realized that might not be the case for you. The reality hit him when noticed all those comments during his casual stream session. Were you aware of this? Was it affecting you? Were you about to run away because of this? He decided to call you. And then few times more. When you did not respond, he figured he's just wait until he saw you at the paddock again, which was only a few days away anyway. He figured you were due to a talk about what to do next. In the meantime, he'd try to figure out his response. Because there was something very strong attracting him towards you. And he kinda liked that. At different times during his day, he had to stop himself from smiling for no reason.

By the time you both rolled back to the paddock, he was touch starved and hungry for you attention. He knew there was something stopping you from reacting to his attempts of communication, but he wasn't worried about that. He knew you had an amazing time, had your climax face still in fresh memory and most importantly, he was unapologetically sure and confident that he would sway you away from any doubts you might have by the power of his cheeky wink and few reassuring words. Mr. "not-a-worry-in-the-world" was living on his own cloud 9 while you tried to find something that would suit your new strange haircut.

The only thing he searched for was you. Walked around the paddock, pretending to be heading somewhere, several times. When he finally saw you, walking opposite of him, smile he could not contain in crept in. Was that a new haircut? First he got taken back, but then imagined how your new hair might bounce and fall to your face when you're on top of him, and he decided he was much of a fan. His fantasy of sharing a smile and lightly brushing your hands as the two of you passed vanished into thin air as soon as he realized you were not even going to look at him. In fact, it was like he was the plague you might contract just by accidentaly laying your eyes on him. As you passed and went even further away from him, he stopped, confused and somewhat annoyed. No, this was not going to just happen like that.

He turned around and marched his way right back to you - only to be very aggressively stopped by your boss. Surprised Lando could not ever watch you leave as he shared a confused look with Alessia. She simply looked at him and mouthed no. Lando didn't consider himself smart - that didn't mean he wasn't. It all made sense real quickly. He walked away without a word, the opposite way from you and still without any clue where he was actually going.

//

Your days were now cut with the same level of anxiety as you'd have during your first days at the paddock. Tripping over things, afraid to talk to anyone and generally trying to blend in or hide behind the camera. It was always a good reason why not interfere people's conversations. The fly on the wall. Because it was safe, right?

Wrong. Lando got more frustrated and mad with each hour that turned into another day. He was somehow able to contain it, but was getting more and more worried that it might start showing on his performance. He confided in Daniel during one of their padel matches. He just had to tell someone. Very rarely was he asking for advice from other drivers. But this time he had to. Daniel's stance on this was very clear and straightforward. "Mate, while it's good to have fun and all, it will never work out. Ultimately, she is working for your team and they will never allow it. Plus, she obviously does not want to risk anything anymore if she's not responding." Lando was mostly silent during the rest of their game. A little joke here and there, but with each hit to the ball he became more and more certain that he did not agree with any word that Daniel said. He had to know what you thought. This no contact thing was not good enough. He was cursing Alessia, the whole paddock and probably the rest of the world as well. Getting the number of your room was easy. Probably little too easy, he thought as he walked towards your hotel room, hoping he will not run into your boss again. It was 11PM. He assumed you'd be getting ready for bed right now.

And you were - the stress and loneliness of the past days meant frequent evening baths to ease the tension in your chest. Not that it was working in anyway. You put all your focus into work these past few days. Editing like crazy. Creating double the content that was needed. You didn't even turn most of it in. Would be too suspicious. Many photos of the team and Oscar. Not a single photo of Lando. You were on self induced probation.

The knock on the door surprised you. After a moment of second guessing, you got out of the bath, put a robe on and slowly opened the door. You genuinely did not expect to see his face. Which was strange, as he was on your mind every waking hour and in few of your dreams. He entered without saying a word. You let him in and closed the door, hoping nobody saw him enter. The anxiety was back in full speed. He thought he had a speech ready and put together - he did not count in the factor his own distraction with the fact you were obviously wearing only the robe. He never saw you this raw and human, if that was the right use of the word. Toned down to basics, no glam or work smile. Just you, young woman ready to get to bed. It was refreshing and a sight he had no idea how much he wanted before stumbling upon it. For him, there was no choice. He had to know where you stood.

"Sorry for barging in like that," he stated, trying to get you on his good side. But he was riled up with adrenaline, having hard time to contain himself. "But it's not like I exactly had other way to get to you, did I?"

You were vulnerable. As if he opened the box you managed to keep hidden. The moment he touched the door and the box lid flew away.

The two of you stood uncomfortably far away from each other. You were biting your cheek while burned you down with his stare. He waited for any reply from you, but he saw how frozen you were. His face relaxed, letting a rather concerned sigh out. Where to start?

"Are you avoiding me?" he asked.

Last time you felt this amount of stress was during your job interview. "Yes."

He nodded, disapprovingly. "Okey. Fair. May I know why?"

You wondered if he understood your situation and was just making sure, or whether he was just plain clueless. What a different world he lived in.

"Isn't that obvious? We had one dinner, and I had to cut my hair...It this goes on, I'd be bold in a month," you tried to put it in a humorous way, but it was really forced.

"Is that why?" he said, examining your hair once again from afar. "I quite like it."

It would be a lie to say that you didn't blush.

"Look, I am sorry for any trouble that caused you. We can be more careful..."

You grinned. "Careful. Right. Sounds delightful." You weren't sure where this bitterness came from.

Lando rolled his eyes, seemingly royally annoyed this time.

"Really? So you're just giving up, just like that."

He had enough of your silence.

"Ok, fine. I apologize for interrupting your evening," he said and marched to the door. You did not expect him to leave so abruptly. Panic set in, you know if was now or never - or at least a long someday. This was wrong, all of it. You caught yourself going after him and stopping him leave.

"Wait," you said with a tone of despair. It was easy to get him to stop.

"Yes?" he asked, clearly waiting for you to meet him half way.

Lost for words, again, but you pushed through this time. "It's a miracle it didn't blow up this time. Do you realize how much work went into covering it up?"

"I do. Believe me," he said with a look in his eyes that showed fatigue, as if this was not something he encountered before. "What I came here to say that even though we have had only one official date, I know that it is worth it to at least try and not bury this at the first bump. And I came here to ask you plain and simple, if this radio silence came from your head and reflects your true wishes."

You did not expect him to be direct. How refreshing to hear someone speak clearly after a run of situationships you'd have. This guy just knew how to shut you up and make you melt.

"I panicked when the pictures came out..."

"Yes, I see now that I shouldn't have left you alone with your thoughts."

"I like you," you returned the blunt honesty. If not now, then when? "I really do. You make me feel alive and I want to make you feel the same way."

His face relaxed, as if another protective wall fell down. Yet, there was a strain of pain in his eyes, something you'd never seen before.

"So why are you giving up? I thought you're someone who is willing to fight for what you want," he said, hitting where it hurt. "I've seen you go the extra mile many times before, going where your passion takes you. I sort of hoped this could be applied to us."

Never before has a guy stood before you with such a burning look and straightforward attitude. It was intimidating in the best way possible.

"I never expected you to be interested in anything beyond a fling," you said the first thing on your mind.

It was him now, lost for words a bit. You were happy a bit that you were able to return the bluntness.

"Yet, here we are," he stated simply.

"Here we are."

You both took few second of silence before you continue, finally getting your point out.

"To be honest, I did not expect the media to pick up so easily. I called Alessia, because I didn't know what to do-"

"Why didn't you call me?" he interrupted you.

"-I mean, we don't know each other that much! In the serious stuff anyway-"

"Yet."

"Yes, yet," Oh, was this man ever gonna let you finish a sentence? You took a deep breath in and continued. "I wasn't sure what to do, she on the other hand looked like she knew well enough how to proceed in this damage control and I just followed her lead. I can't jeopardise my career because of a fling, you understand that, right?"

In his eyes, it was a simple thing. "Well, let's make sure you don't."

"Loose my job?"

"Loose your job over a fling."

"Lando...you can't be saying things like that if you don't mean them seriously."

"I do mean them seriously...I meet a lot of people. Famous, gorgeous, fans and what not. I can't remember the last time I actually liked someone. What I do remember is putting other things as a priority, being lead by several different fears and ignoring this feeling. I'm getting older, I don't want to run away. Not until I've done all I could to give this a chance. If you want to, of course."

He was waiting for your response. You could see in his eyes, he was begging for an answer for a question he didn't ask.

"Of course I want to be with you! I want us to go the natural way of things and see how it goes! But, I'm afraid we don't exactly have that luxury," you said, grabbing your short hair to prove your point.

"What's the worst that could happen? In your own view?" he asked, using the same tone you recognized from his strategy meetings.

Ok, let's play it his way. "Well, I get marked as a slut, someone who does not have any real talent and I'll get fired and never get a job again."

"Interesting. Because I think the worst that could happen is us just walking away and never finding out what could have been just because we're scared of what some insecure people online will think. And of course people will doubt your talent, hell there are people still doubting Picasso's talent, so you'd be in a good club! People doubt my talent all the damn time. You can't let them control your actions? And dare I say, your talent is so obvious, even if you lost your job at McLaren there would be thousands of other jobs, maybe even better ones for you. Unlike me, you can do something that's universally needed around the world. It's not a one niche specific thing, formula 1 is not the only option for you!" he said and you felt as if he let his own insecurities creep in this time.

You desperately wanted to hug him. To ease the tension of what felt like once in a life-time conversation.

But maybe he was right? You realized you'd never heard someone verbally acknowledge your talent. Not your parent, who did not understand photography, not your colleagues, who were always focused on the professional criticism. He was the first person to do so.

"You really think that?" you asked, because why the hell not at this point.

His face turned to confusion, as if he did not understand what you were saying.

"What, that you have talent? Bloody hell, of course. A blind man could see that." Surprised face stayed on him for a while. "Don't tell me you don't believe that."

With that, he closed the distance between you two and went to cup your face. "I can't believe you'd be so harsh on yourself," he said, looking deeply into your eyes.

You laughed lightly. "That's rich, coming from you."

Your foreheads touched. "I don't want to pressure you into anything, Y/N. But I don't want to watch you go without a fight. Who knows, it might be a dead end after few weeks. But what if not?"

"I'm scared...but like, the good kind of scared, you know?"

"Yeah," he laughed. "I know." The two stayed in your own thoughts for a moment, foreheads still touching. "Can I kiss you?" he whispered quietly.

"Yes, please do. But only if you plan of staying the night. I want to find out what it feels like to wake up next to you."

He chucked. "Yes, me too. You did run away on me pretty smoothly," he pointed to the fact you were nowhere to be found the morning after your date.

And then- he kissed you.

It felt like opening the windows for the first time after a long winter. Like finally finding the perfume that suit you. Looking into a mirror and liking a new haircut. Realizing you grew out of your old insecurities. Listening to a song you'd heard a thousand times before and finally getting its meaning. A shoe that fits. Laugh that comes from within. Your true self coming out. Letting go of the past. Becoming yourself.

part 8

_______________________

@i-wish-this-was-me @lqvesoph @ophcelia @noneofyourfbusinessworld @formulaal

[umlewis]

lewis hamilton, p3, is interviewed during the post-qualifying press conference, singapore - september 21, 2024 (transcript under the cut)

Interviewer: "Lewis, let's come to you. You weren't that positive about your car yesterday after practice. Is P3 a bit of a surprise in qualifying?" Lewis: "I'm not saying it's a surprise, but through the weekend so far we were looking… I was looking particularly very poor. I mean, this morning and all of yesterday we were 1.2 seconds off these guys, so… We arrived with a car that was massively understeer-y and we just couldn't dial any in, no matter what we did just nothing changed. And made changes overnight, came here today, pretty much the same thing, and I was really, definitely shocked to see that we were still 1.2 seconds behind [laughs] Lando again. And then we just kept our heads down, kept not giving up, and we made some more changes, and got into this session and it was like night and day. Such a big difference. Car was all of a sudden alive and I was able to go where I wanted to go. So it was looking really strong throughout qualifying. And I think obviously with the crash in Q3 it made it difficult for all of us to put that final lap together. I think my lap was also nothing special. Very difficult to get the tires perfect and not overslide them; I had a lot of snaps. So I think with a better job maybe we could have been front row with this guy, but I don't know whether or not we could have beaten him today. But still really, really happy." Interviewer: "How rewarding is it? Because you've had some struggles with qualifying. You've been very open about that this year. So does that make this that much more satisfying?" Lewis: "Oh yeah. I mean, just to be up here with these guys, great drivers. I've not been up here for a while. And yeah, qualifying has been a nightmare for quite a long time, so it feels great to be up here. I feel very, very grateful and very, very happy. George and I are on the second row, so hopefully from here we can apply pressure to these two. And to even to be ahead of another McLaren and another Red Bull and also the Ferraris is mega, considering how fast the Ferraris, particularly, are here. So yeah, I hope that we can hold on to these guys tomorrow."

[time jump] NOT SHOWN: Journalist: "Andrew Benson, BBC Sport. One for Max and then one for Lando and Lewis. Max, will you talk to us outside the room? Because technically there's not... Yeah, okay. And then Lando and Lewis, what do you think about Max being given community service, effectively, for what he said on Thursday?" Lewis: "Yeah, I think it's a bit of a joke, to be honest. This is the pinnacle of the sport. Mistakes are made. I certainly wouldn't be doing it, and I hope Max doesn't do it." [time jump] Journalist: "Zuhrah Beevi, Vavel.com. Lewis, your car looked much stronger today than it did on Friday. How confident are you that you can get a podium like last year for tomorrow's race?" Lewis: "It's very hard to say, 'cause it was such a nightmare the past day-and-a-half. I think our long run pace was so-so. Nowhere near these guys, or at least the McLarens. But we have now put the car in a much different window, so we have to also anticipate a different balance tomorrow, compared to the past every other session. And yeah, I think here is really about managing tire temps, so that's gonna have to be key tomorrow. So doing absolutely everything we can to keep the temperatures out of the rears, basically. I hope, in our attempt to do that, we're somehow able to hold on to at least one of these guys. But yeah, we'll find out tomorrow. I feel confident, though, that we might be able to do that." [laughs]

[f1]

Norris happy with P2 qualifying performance despite 'worst' second half of a lap on his final run in Zandvoort

Lando Norris called his second-place qualifying result at Zandvoort “a good result”, although he admitted he did not quite put the complete final lap together on his quest to topple Max Verstappen for pole position. McLaren had looked quick all weekend – with Norris topping the timesheets in FP2 on Friday – and he was in fine form on Saturday, as his first lap in Q3 put him on provisional pole, almost two-tenths ahead of his team mate, Oscar Piastri. READ MORE: Verstappen tops dramatic wet-dry Zandvoort qualifying to extend run of Dutch GP poles However, he was unable to keep a hold of the position, with Verstappen rocketing to the top the timesheets, while Norris came across the line in second, although he wound up 0.537s off the Red Bull driver’s time. Speaking after jumping out of the cockpit, Norris said: "I’m happy still. P2 was a good result. I guess in these kind of conditions every now and then you hope Max makes a mistake and he doesn’t. “So, frustrating in a little way. But I’m very happy. The team did a good job, it was a chaotic qualifying, but another P2, so good.” Norris missed out on pole position to Max Verstappen by over five-tenths Norris had been faster than Verstappen in the first sector on their final runs, but lost time to the Dutch driver as the lap went on, and the Briton was shouldering the blame after a difficult second half of the lap. “Qualifying is always stressful, no matter what the conditions, but definitely now it’s definitely trickier,” said Norris of the wet-dry conditions in Zandvoort. "The first half of the lap was mega, but the second half of the lap was probably one of the worst second halves that I’ve done. HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action from qualifying in Zandvoort as Verstappen takes pole ahead of Norris “It peaked early on. It’s tough, but I really enjoyed these conditions. I’ve always enjoyed the conditions, it’s when we do well. I’m taking the P2 still.” Asked whether it was the driver or the tyres that peaked, Norris replied: “The driver. Tyres were good until the end. The driver peaked very early. Got a bit of work to do, just not the most comfortable but good enough, so I’ll take it.” Piastri was not pleased with his final lap in Q3 that left him eighth in qualifying Team mate Piastri recovered from his crash in FP2 yesterday and was in fine form for much of Saturday. However, he set a time that was only good enough for eighth in Q3, and speaking afterwards, he was less than pleased with his performance. “I just didn’t put a good lap together,” said Piastri. “I think maybe we paid a little bit of the price for not getting enough laps in the dry yesterday, to be honest. We were looking good until that, but just didn’t put a lap together when it mattered. READ MORE: ‘We had to risk it!’ – Verstappen hails ‘very enjoyable’ final lap to net third Dutch GP pole in a row “I think just lacking a little bit of reference after yesterday, so a shame to be a bit further back than I would have liked. But clearly the car is still quite quick, and we’ll see what we can do in the race.” Asked whether he was surprised by their pace, Piastri said: “Yes and no. I think we’ve been quick yesterday obviously with Lando, and even for myself I was feeling good until I crashed. This feature is currently not available because you need to provide consent to functional cookies. Please update your cookie preferences Piastri admits he ‘just didn’t put a lap together when it mattered’ in Dutch GP qualifying “I think it’s pretty much how we expected it to be, tight with Mercedes, Ferrari, and Aston. Max is still a league ahead of everybody. I think it’s about where we expected, and obviously Lando’s just in front of that pack and I’m just at the back of it. “I wouldn’t say a massive surprise. Obviously not many straights here and a few corners that play to our strengths, definitely, but I think it’s just where we should be now.” via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

[meaningofmotorsport]

Mexico City Grand Prix Review

It was all about Lap 1 of the Grand Prix really, as it was so hard to overtake after that, and the pendulum kept swinging in what has been an incredible season of F1!

In hindsight, Red Bull should have been pleased to lock out the 2nd row of the grid in qualifying, as if they had got pole, with their lack of straight line speed, they surely would have been swamped down to Turn 1. Instead, though, it was Max who got the perfect slipstream, and out braked the Mercedes to get the lead. From then on, there was no stopping him, as he had the best pace by far out there. It is crazy to think that Verstappen is actually starting to dominate the championship, and if Baku and Hungary had gone differently, the title could be almost wrapped up! Perez drove his heart out, and did very well to pressurise Hamilton, but the dirty air was too much for him in the end. I am glad that Checo has turned a corner with the car, which has helped the team massively in the constructors’ standings. Even better, was seeing him on the podium at home, a well deserved one for a fan favourite driver.

It turns out it was a blip for Red Bull on Saturday, but you cannot write the rollercoaster of emotions that occurred in the Mercedes garage over those few days. The dejection of practice, and seemingly being nowhere, to all of a sudden get one over the rivals, and look to have a chance at the win, then for it all to go wrong in the 1st kilometre of racing, and lose even more points to Red Bull. They just lacked downforce all weekend it seems, as their straight line speed was mega, yet it was outweighed massively in the 2nd and 3rd sector. The season isn’t over; however, Mercedes needs to get winning soon to stop their run of titles ending! Lewis did what you expect of him really, by maximising what he had, and withstood the pressure from Perez. You have to feel for Bottas, who was brilliant in qualifying, for it all to come to nothing in the race, and be stuck behind the guy who took him out, for most of the race.

This race showed that AlphaTauri should at least be near to the battle for 3rd in the constructors, if they had got their act together sooner, and if Tsunoda had been able to deliver on his promise better. No one could lay a glove on Gasly in the race, as he continues to excel in F1. They were helped by the Honda being brilliant at altitude this weekend, although that car is clearly great overall too! Yuki was unlucky to get hit on Lap 1, especially given his pace all weekend.

Ferrari pretty much did what they set out to do in Mexico, as they surged ahead of McLaren, and build further towards 2022. Sainz got unlucky with the Turn 1 spin, in that he fell behind Leclerc, and had to use team orders to get by and try to attack Gasly, which came to nothing in the end. Ferrari do look like the favourites now for 3rd place.

It was an unfortunate mistake for Ricciardo to make into the 1st corner, as he locked up on the inside and ploughed into Bottas. It completely ruined all the good work he had done over the weekend, and should arguably have been a penalty. Norris did a solid job to fight from the back to score a point, but it was peanuts compared to their rivals!

Age was clearly on their side in this race, as the older statesmen of Vettel, Alonso and Raikkonen all managed to come away from here with points. They all had great pace, and weren’t holding anyone up, which for the Alfa Romeo is great news, given their toils this year. Alonso was able to go a race without causing any track limits controversy, which is equally impressive! Vettel was able to use the overcut to his advantage, as Giovinazzi got stuck behind traffic following his pitstop, which utterly ruined his race! Ocon and Stroll couldn’t reach the points from their lowly starting spots.

Haas had another difficult weekend, with Mick not able to keep up the promise he showed on Friday, before being taken out in Turn 1 in the race. As for Williams, they were nowhere too, which is unexpected for the team who have done so well on occasions this year! Can Brazil be a different story?

Sadly, we didn’t get a stunner on our return to the Mexican capital, however there is a better chance of some action at the iconic Interlagos circuit, and with the final sprint race of the year happening there, who knows what could happen! Can Max and Lewis keep their 100% record up, of coming together on the Sunday after the Sprint race?

-M

Thank you very much for reading this article! To keep up to date with when they go out, and to see my reactions to races and other news, follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/MeaningofMotor1

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[meaningofmotorsport]

Monaco Grand Prix Preview

It’s funny how much more excited we all are for Monaco, having only missed it for one year. I feel like it shows that the sport cannot be without this track on its calendar, although some changes may need to be made to help the action. Or alternatively, other teams could follow McLaren’s lead to spice up the liveries!

Mercedes come to this iconic circuit, off the back of a start to the season which they didn’t expect, after Max took pole in Bahrain to start the year. They have shown though, that in race trim, with brilliant strategies, they can get the better of Red Bull, even if they aren’t as fast. Having said all that, the season is by no means over, Lewis only has a 14 point lead, which could evaporate with a single mistake! As always, Mercedes have said that they aren’t the favourites here, but past form suggests otherwise. They will be my pick to win, however Red Bull are not the only threats! I love the fact, that there is tension beginning to build between Lewis and Max, we need that if the title fight starts to get serious down the line, as we near Abu Dhabi!

I’m not sure whether to regard these first 4 races as a good start to the year for Red Bull, or not so positive, as whilst it has gone better than previous years, some wins have escaped their grasp, either through team or driver error. At least here there is no track limits to worry about! Today, Max was not happy with the car it seems, he wasn’t far off Mercedes, but felt that when they put a full lap together, Mercedes will be well ahead. This could be him sandbagging, however looking at how good the Mercedes was at Barcelona, it may well be true. Some good news though, is that Perez is fast around these streets, at least in FP1. So, even if they don’t have the out right pace, they could use strategy to mess with those ahead!

I can’t quite believe I am saying this, however, what if neither of the two teams I just mentioned are fastest here? Going off the times today, you would say that Ferrari are favourites here, as they were 4 tenths ahead of the rest, which is a big gap! We know that they have made massive improvements over last year, and considering the engine is still their main weakness, it makes sense for them to be fast here. That gap to the Mercedes, suggests that even if they did run higher engine modes and less fuel, they are still going to be close in qualifying. They are not my pick for the weekend, although if Leclerc can pull out one of his stellar laps again, pole isn’t out of the question! Sainz is doing well too, so I truly have no idea where they will end up, it would just be great to see Ferrari back where they deserve to be!

McLaren never show their hand too much in practice, so don’t read much into them being back in the pack, I would imagine they will be with Alpha Tauri, trying to get near Ferrari. Having started the year so well, being almost dominant in the mid field, they are now having some of their weaknesses exposed, or maybe it is just other teams improving and learning their cars. I do think it will be a year long fight between Ferrari and McLaren for 3rd in the constructors, as on power hungry tracks, the Mercedes engine in the McLaren can trounce the Ferrari. The key will be maximising the bad weekends, such as this one for the Woking team, to keep bringing in points!

Is this the weekend where Gasly finally gets a strong set of points? The car has shown promise, the execution has just been terrible, but once again here, Pierre has been able to hold pace near the front of the times. Much like Leclerc, he is able to pull one lap wonders out of the bag, which is crucial here, so what is possible for him? Tsunoda started with so much promise in his F1 career, it seemed as though he could channel is passion into brilliant pace and race craft, yet we have started to see scrapy drives from him in the past few races. Again, here in Monaco, he lost running in FP2 after he scraped the wall. He has to be careful, as the Red Bull driver programme doesn’t have much patience!

There may be some hope for Aston Martin here, as the low speed circuit, demands less of a high rake set up of the car, with chassis being more important. This has been backed up by some promising times today, especially from Vettel. Points should be on the cards for them here! They look to have swapped places with Alpine, who have admitted, that they lacked pace today, compared to other teams. They can take solace in the fact that this is a one off track, an outlier in the calendar, and the car looks much stronger in ‘normal’ conditions, so they may just have to suffer through this weekend!

I would be amazed if Alfa Romeo are as high up on Saturday, as we saw them today, however, with that Ferrari engine, you would say that this track should help them! I just think that they used more engine modes today, as we have seen before this year, although you never know, if one of the drivers put a lap together, they could be in the mix for points!

Williams, for their 750th race, may not really have as good a race as saw last time out in Spain, with George almost getting points! They are not miles away from the pack, but when we saw them in the mix in previous races, it has been clear to see from the start of the weekend! It is the same story as it has been all year for Haas, just let the drivers learn, build experience, and see what they can do! Unfortunately for Mick, the day didn’t end well, as he lost the rear end, and hit the wall in Massenet, ending his day early, and giving the team some work to do! In fact, with Mazepin beating him in both sessions, it wasn’t a great day for Schumacher, and we should give Nikita some credit for the job he did today.

It would be incredible to see 3 teams in the battle for the pole and win this weekend, but to be honest, I doubt we will get all of them up there, in with a shot in Monaco. The good thing to take from today, is that Ferrari are truly on the path back to the front, and with a regulation change, and them having more wind tunnel time, they could be at the front before we know it!

-M