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Yes, I totally understand. And at the China sprint race it had appeared you pulled a blinder on us. It was a gamble, and looked good initially, but Lewis has not gotten a handle on his car. Leclerc would be a better choice. Piastri, Norris, Max, I think you need a lead driver running at the sharp end in your team. Hamilton may yet get there, but there are few signs at the moment. Even Russell would be an upgrade over Hamilton right now.

But do what you think is right. You could follow my advice and then Hamilton wins three races on the bounce after you remove him, and I would feel bad about that. And of course if you wedge in a more expensive driver you'll need to cut costs elsewhere in your team.

Lando is the top scoring fantasy driver so far, followed by Oscar, Max, George and Kimi. Lewis has actually outscored Leclerc so far, but they are trending in different directions at the moment, aren't they?

Or maybe go with five scrub drivers and two top constructors. Hmm, now that I think about it....

Lewis said he had some kind of revelation during his mid stint in Arabia, we'll know soon if true.

That was his middle stint in Bahrain. By Jeddah it was gone

Ouch.

But you know those are very different circuits with opposite characteristics. It makes sense that whatever he felt in Bahrain middle stint didn't translate to Jeddah. We will see but he looks lost at the moment, Hamilton. His demeanor is deflated, he is struggling and doesn't have the answers. It could click at any time, but it feels a tall order at the moment. He sees Leclerc stick it on the podium and it hurts. Sainz has been going through the same thing, but looked good at Jeddah.

Ferrari have bent over backwards to accommodate Lewis, tailoring his steering wheel, and software and these sorts of things to his liking, but it isn't paying off yet. Long season, and time to get it right. But they won't want to be fourth.

You make very good points DBond.

I`ll see in a couple of days.

The only one I will avoid is Russell. I don`t like him as a person.

Childish I know. The way he behaved in the crash with Bottas was bad. Adenalin yes, but no excuse for me.

You gotta have your villains. I'm a big believer in this, that sport is better when you have something to root against as much as you support your own. Like the New York Mets dammit, or Manchester United. When Russell first moved to Merc he took over as my main villain, mostly, or entirely, due to his petulant radio messages. Hamilton down the years also fills this role. In both cases I objectively respect each of these guys, but the sporting fan in me likes to see them suffer. Michael Schumacher was my first F1 villain, and I don't like saying so now, that he has had his injury, but he was a super villain in my eyes when I first started following Formula 1. I remember a race at Spa in the wet. It was just coming down in sheets, and he was overtaking a car, on the straight after Pouhon. It was Coulthard I think and he lifted to let Schumacher past. But with so much spray Schumacher failed to notice and slammed in to the lead car, shearing off his right front wheel. He then drove on three wheels like it was a qualifying lap, back to the pits, jumped out and stormed down the pitlane ready to kill someone.

And I thought it was kinda your fault dude, overtaking is your responsibility, or at worst it's 50/50, and it was like, what an a-hole. But I respect his ability, his drive and determination. It's what made him multiple champion. They all have some of that.

Yeah, gotta have your villains.

Bravo Kimi Antonelli, young star rising !

I don't know about the race being entertaining if he had not taken pole, let's see what havoc it brings.

That was a great quali, and I find myself happy that Antonelli took pole. I'm no Merc fan, but this kid is very likeable, humble and quick. And doing it all at 18 years old. What a future he has ahead of him. I find myself hoping he does well. And in Hamilton's car, no less.

Poor chap was screwed up by RB releasing Verstappen unsafely. Pretty chaotic sprint.

What a crazy Saturday!

Chaotic is the perfect word.

Felt bad for Kimi getting muscled out, but that's a lesson learned, and he'll be a better racer for it. He's looked rapid all week, and has outshone Russell. Let's see if the can follow it up with a good result in the Grand Prix. Mentality is so important, and I think he will come good. I'm sure I wasn't alone in thinking that Toto had jumped the gun a bit in giving him the seat, but he's done nothing but impress me so far. Getting clobbered by Max is the sort of thing that can fester, but the greats have short memories.

Tough luck for Max as well, he would have scored good points and got nothing, but shook that off to take another pole. Short memory, indeed.. Yuki picked up a few.

Fantasy was poor results with two retirements, bringing my running total to eight this year I think. These hurt. I made a couple changes, and didn't expect much out of the sprint, after sprint qualifying. But I expected it could be good change for the race. Let's see. 60% chance of rain or thunderstorms tomorrow during the grand prix. And if you've spent any time in south Florida, that's probably more like a 98% chance.

I was surprised to read an article this week criticizing the track in Miami, a number of negative comments from the drivers. The third sector isn't great, but the chicane-hopping isn't required. Kissing the wall on exit isn't either, and it's not like most temporary street circuits don't have sections as bad or worse. The nature of the track is great for racing, good for chaos, as we saw.

The event still suffers from the cringe inaugural race, it has stained the rep. And the fake marina, which seems to still exist haha. I liike the circuit. The first two sectors are great, and really it's only the very slow section around the highway supports that isn't great for these cars. But on the other hand it makes for plenty of drama. Like Max running over the bollard last year and ripping up his floor. Sainz today taking too much kerb and bottoming out and spinning. Fernando getting tagged (again) by Lawson. It's so easy to get it wrong, and that makes the following car feel froggy and there's a lot of close combat in that section, turns 11 through 16.

Nice fights between McLarens and Max. Lando fighting his anxiety and coming on top was a relief, but for now Oscar is the strongest.

Lewis is starting to share Charles' pain.... in a slower car than the Merc, fighting Carlos in his Williams !!!!

Piastri has the mentality for this. Lando is a bit of a head case. It's Oscar's title to lose at this point.

Fez were a mess yesterday. Bortoleto is another retirement for me, but I didn't lose a ton of points. I hope Wigean wasn't cursing my advice to drop Hamilton after he took a podium in the sprint. But that was down to perfect pit timing, not inherent pace or merit. Right tire at the right time. Things reverted to form in the grand prix. Some rain would have been good. Congrats to Piastri who is the real deal out there.

When I saw Oakes resign yesterday I knew Doohan's time was up, and the decision had been made.

It's harsh, and I feel bad for Doohan, who seems a good bloke and was so happy to reach F1.

But I always say F1 is not a finishing school, and neither should it be. You have to deliver straight away, especially with so many promising or proven drivers without seats.

It's tough on him, but I think Alpine had to give it a go, naming Colapinto to the seat. Flavio-flav said it's for five races. What does that mean? Doohan gets another go? They backed themselves in to a corner and probably should have named Colapinto at the start. We shall see how it goes.

I don't know what they mean, but I'm ashamed of Alpine promoting the worst cheater as principal.

They're my new villain, which is pretty sad because I'd like Gasly to succeed.... just not in this shameless team.

As part of my midlife crisis I envisionned buying an A110 in a not too distant future.... well not any more.

Yeah, he is bad news.

You should still get the 110

I'll buy an electric spyder version, if they ever make it, and as long as Briatore is not working there any more.

He can't have much time left. I imagine he is a smoker and likes a drink. Not wishing it, but there ya go.

Back at it this week boys, Imola is the venue. One of my favorite tracks of all time, but like most classic tracks it isn't a good racing track for these big cars. One of those tracks where qualifying is often better than the grand prix. I've turned literally thousands of laps here in racing sims, in all sorts of configurations. Imola has undergone many revisions. But the cars need to be smaller to make it a good racing track for F1.

Well, as long as Mc Larens ain't in pole, there can be a race. I hope Fez can catch the leaders somewhat, and Mercs and Max can blur the starting lines.

I expect McLaren on pole, unless it's wet or especially cool. But you never know!