After yesterday's race Max reclaims the lead in the driver's by six points, but Red Bull fall farther behind in the constructor's, now a 36 point differential. That's not insurmountable, but without a Mercedes retirement that is going to be very difficult to close.
Having watched the replays, and listened to their post-race comments, I have to conclude that Hamilton scuppered his own chances by ignoring the initial call to come in. I'm not convinced he would have held off Perez and Leclerc had he stayed out and as mentioned he ran the risk of a failure. His tires were shot, down to the carcass, and if that had happened he would have gotten no points at all. That's all speculation of course, but I think it's clear that by deciding to come in so late he had too little time left considering the number of laps it takes to get the inters in the right window on a drying track.
He also benefited from Gasly's penalty, which I thought was harsh, as without that 5-second penalty Gasly would have been ahead of Hamilton on the road.
Good result for Ferrari, with both cars scoring and only one McLaren doing the same. McLaren's lead in the battle for third place is down to 7.5 points. Considering Sainz's grid penalty, Ferrari maximized their result, good drives from both. This battle too looks headed or the wire.
Next up is the start of the Americas trio, Circuit of the Americas, which is a great track. The pressure's piling up!
Only one team in the paddock has yet to announce their driver lineup for 2022, Alfa Romeo. And it looks like the reason could be they are about to be sold. By leaving one seat open it allows new owners to install their choice for driver, making it a more attractive prospect. And it looks like it may be close, with Michael Andretti the former driver, and current Indy Car owner seemingly in advanced talks to get this deal done. Could we have a second American team for 2022? It's looking like it.
