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Well so much for my predictions

It was nice to see different cars up front and I wanted Lando to nick it there at the end. Well done to Sainz to keep his nerve and grab his second career victory. Merc almost pulled it off and Russell must be pulling his hair out at that finish. He wanted it too badly, perhaps.

Max managed to do some damage control and scored good points in the end. He was catching Leclerc by four seconds a lap at the end and needed just another half lap to come home fourth but he ran out of track.

And well done to Ferrari. they brought the best car and made it count.

Nice to see some variation in the finishing order. I watched some of the post race show with an interview with a completely distraught Russel. The commentators mentioned that he might have been too fixated on Lando’s gearbox as Lando braked very late and clipped the wall with his front wheel and nearly lost it going sideways, George got his rear wheel into the barrier and the rest as the saying goes, is history.

Sainz has proven a very mature driver today, perfect show.

Yes, he deserved that result. Sintax had a great week, playing his limitless card. He and I work together so we are discussing F1 every day and he insists Sainz is a terrible driver, a view I don't share. Sainz did a fine job in Singapore.

Back at it this week boys. Suzuka is the venue. This is one of the world's great circuits in my view. Super nice flow to it, iconic corners. Amazing history. I expect Red Bull to be fast once again, high speed, high downforce corners have been their specialty this season. But if they are not, cue the flexi-wing talk! Get your fantasy sorted. Good luck!

Red Bull back at the top. McLaren and Fez looking good. Merc out of sorts, well Hamilton was.

Lets see what free practice 3 brings.

I hope for a good battle between Fez, McLAren and Perez.

Max just smoked qualifying. Good god man. He's on another planet, seriously. I predicted pole would be 29.4 and he went in the 28s. Half a second clear.

Great qualifying for McLaren who have really made strides, and at every sort of track which is impressive considering where they had been at the start of the season. At one point I wondered if Zak would get the sack, but look at them now. Great car, two great drivers. I'm a big Lando fan and have been for years. But Piastri has really impressed me. I will admit thinking he would cave under the pressure, and fail to justify the hype. But I think now he's a future world champion. McLaren are on the for the win here if Verstappen has any bobbles. The battle for the podium places should be tight. I expect a good race up and down the grid.

Sargeant may have sealed his fate today.

Good luck in the race boys!

Well it was indeed a good race behind Max, at least when seeing highlights !

I seem to have now the curse in fantasy,so well done overtaking me.

Very glad Piastri gets a podium already, and they all seem to have fun in the front while fighting hard, so that's cool.

Poor Perez is washed, another victim of Max's dominance. Sadly for him he's probably too old to bounce back in another team.

So, who for RB 24 ? Surprise Lawson wild card ? Still Perez because Max is able to win constructor by himself ? Someone else ?

Yeah, but I think overtaking you is only temporary, and you will slingshot back past me.

Great drive from Max, never in doubt after turn 2.

Good result for McLaren, a double podium. They are doing a great job.

Five retirements. Not that long ago, five would be low attrition, but these days it's a rarity and spices things up. Felt sorry for Bottas who gave Sargeant acres of space and still got hit. Logan's done, I just can't see them giving him another year, but we will see about that.

Red Bull in 2024? I have to believe it's Max and Checo for another year. Lawson would be a bold move to go straight to that seat without a full year at AT, or a full year at any team. But privately, Red Bull have to be disappointed in Sergio, no? He's not been very good all the way back to Monaco, given the car he drives. No one is going to match Verstappen at the moment, but objectively he's not putting in good performances. And the team are not one to stand on sentimentality, so we will see what Marko decides.

In the highlights I saw a huge sideswipe from an Alfa Romeo towards a Williams but I’m not clear as to who or why. I couldn’t see if there was any reason for the Alfa driver to affect such a violent course correction.

So, any no. 2 driver at Red Bull stays with that team at the risk of his very soul. Mark Weber, Kvyat, Albon, Danny Ric, Checo Perez. And they had so many drivers through their hands at Red Bull that they sometimes didn’t know what to do with them. Anyone remember Scott Speed and who else..

Either you accept that you’re always going to play second fiddle which apparently worked for Bottas, the money was perhaps satisfactory, or if you dream of being the best driver in the world you grab the bull by the horns and start behaving like Russel “are we racing each other or the others?” - just as he was being repassed after having passed LH.

Russel’s and Perez’ acts bear witness to the fact that if you want a new pair of shoes you gotta kick off the old ones first. However, not all palacecoups are successful, quite a few fail, and on rare occasions the fans will be treated to a Senna/Prost or LH/NR inter-team rivalry.

I wonder how long it will be before we see Lando and Piastri slugging it out?

They alreeady started in Monza

Back at it this week boys! Losail is the circuit and it the second time we've been there, having run a race in 2021. The drivers like the circuit which is fairly high speed. However it's the one track where I have not driven hundreds of laps so no comments for this one. It's a sprint weekend. Get your fantasy sorted. And away we go!

Max on pole for the Grand Prix. McLaren couldn't keep it between the lines and suffered. Merc in good position in their battle for second in the championship. Stroll has to be replaced, I don't see how a team like Aston Martin, who have high aspirations, can continue to justify having Lance in the seat. Fernando has 174 points this season. Stroll has 47. That is by far the biggest gap on the grid. If McLaren catch them for fourth it will not be because the car was poor or Fernando let them down. It will be because Stroll isn't good enough. Papa Stroll really should make the difficult call here and get in a top driver.

The new kerbs that everyone was praising yesterday are evidently causing some harmonic issues with the tire sidewalls, and Pirelli are concerned about failures. They are talking about making the race a mandatory three-stop which I don't think I've ever seen before. It will probably actually make the race better, the more stops the more drama usually. Something to watch for anyway. There will also be an extra practice session to gather more data.

The track is pretty low grip. Maybe it will rubber in since there's a sprint. But the drivers were struggling yesterday. Lots of run-off here though.

Actually, the biggest gap on the grid is Max to Checo isn't it?

This was a nice sprint

Now for race, I have to hope for Gasly's demise and Max's victory if I want to stay in fantasy race, this game's cruel

Apart from the Mercs crashing, seeing the highlights it seems race hasn't been this much exciting, but many drivers seem to have been sick from heat exposure. My fantasy team is screwed and I can't even copy Dbond's, it's over the cost cap by quite a margin !

Piastri is the real deal, Max will not rest easy in the near future if McLarens match RB's development, and Lando may start to fear about his team leader position.

Race wasn't that great, although the stint restrictions did make it a little more interesting. Well done to Max.

Too bad for Merc they allowed that to happen. With Sainz out they were in great position to solidify 2nd and then they knock one of their own cars out to make it even. Hamilton then got fined for crossing the track on his walk back to the pits. Good result for the Papaya squad.

I made a rookie mistake and left my turbo driver on Lando rather than set it back to Max and that cost me.A good week but could have been better.

I am not fan of the desert tracks really.

Could be me but they feel artificial somehow.

This week-end I used my time on Premier League, Snooker and Fallout 76.

Congrats to Verstappen. What a fantastic year he has had.

Also really fun that McLaren has done so much progress.

Looking forward to Austin. Really wish I could be there.

I think Losail is a god track. Fairly high speed, good flow to it. One DRS zone is a problem in current F1. The kerbs were the main problem, even though everyone was praising them in practice. Or the tires were the problem, take your pick I guess. I thought the track looked spectacular at night from overhead shots. I don't mind the mid east tracks. Sakhir, Losail, Jeddah and Yas Marina are all good tracks in my view. And they are all magnificent facilities built at enormous expense.