Bottom post of the previous page:
Great little qualifying session.1. Love Lando.
2. Sainz: most the time looks like he is not trying that hard, until he suddenly cranks out a very fast lap. Ferrari was wise to "split" their engine change strategy.
3. Russell: The first of many qualifying sessions ahead of Hamilton?
Nice to see a top three three line up that does not include a Mercedes or a Red Bull.
4. Hamilton: Trying too hard. This is his race to loose. Working hard to make that happen. The story more impressive than the McLaren return to form is the return of Williams.
5. Ricciardo: He looked out of sorts. Still struggling to understand why he is struggling.
6. Alonso: The Man.
8/11: Stroll/Vettel: Noted.
20. Verstappen: I will continue to make the argument that Red Bull made a mistake by changing the engine this race. He certainly could have qualified in the top three, taken his 3-place penalty, and started the race on Hamilton's tail.
Anyhow, Hamilton sort of needs to win this race. That is going be tricky with three cars in front of him at the start. Sort of needs to get around Russell and Sainz early on and be sitting on Norris' tail before the first pit stop. With the track being dryer tomorrow, Mercedes should have more of an advantage over the three teams in front than they did in qualifying.
I gather weather will be "dry" tomorrow with maybe some showers. This is means that running off line may be tricky. Going to make it harder to pass, and make it particularly hard for drivers in the back to move up the field (LeClerc and Verstappen).
Should be a good race tomorrow. Looking forward to it. So nice to be able to talk about someone other than a Mercedes or a Red Bull driver.
