For the first time in a long time, there was excitement during lap one. Yuki Tsunoda and his bestie Pierre Gasly collided going into turn five. They’re one of the more likeable bromances on the grid, so hopefully they can work it out amicably.
This time, unlike the past five races, we got an actual fight for the lead — a little rumble in the desert, if you will. If you won’t, then I’m afraid I can’t help you there. I do have a couple things to say about the little tussle between Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen.
- Verstappen needs to work on his wheel-to-wheel racing (says the 21-year-old without a driver’s licence). In the now iconic “inchident” video, he complains about Charles Leclerc pushing him off the track, but it seems he loves to push other drivers off or, in this case, overtake them off track. And don’t get me started on his team principal, the embattled Christian Horner, printing out a picture to prove a point. That’s very lazy virtual assistant referee work. Horner, if this Formula One thing doesn’t work out, I might have a job for you in the Premier League.
- The penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage needs to be adjusted. Either the stewards make it more severe, or they order the cars to swap positions. Yes, the five-second penalty hurt Verstappen on this occasion, but if we take a short view to the past, a five-second penalty would have been useless.
To conclude, the pole-to-win streak is finally broken! Pop a bottle of Almave.
Piastri. Special. As much as it pains me to say it, his overtake of Lewis Hamilton was absolute cinema. Pure driving. He doesn’t deal with the No. 2 — not even the pencils. Piastri is now the only multiple-race winner in 2025, putting the backup driver narrative to bed.
Alex Albon has been so snappy with his team this season. Get your pens ready to write think pieces — or don’t, because his name isn’t Hamilton, so Albon’s allowed to be salty. To be fair, if I was driving at 200 mph and my engineers couldn’t get it together, I’d be snappy too.
If I had a nickel for every time Lando Norris fell into Hamilton’s drag reduction system fake, I’d have two nickels — which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice. I pass you, you pass me — I’m going to chase you down turn 13. Now sing it in the Barney song tune. That was a fun game. The McLaren is an obviously superior car (even though Norris would have you believe it’s not), so Norris passing Hamilton is not surprising. Hamilton holding him up cost him a podium. Hamilton held Norris up for the love of the game and helped his teammate, Leclerc, to Ferrari’s first Grand Prix podium of the season. I’ll take what I can get.
Norris is a talented driver, but I will repeat myself. These mistakes ought to have been buffed out by now. There’s more to winning a championship than a fast car; you’d think last year would have taught him that. Had he started where he should have, given his fast car, he could probably have won it. Not sure it would have been a comfortable win, but it could have been a win.
Sky sports F1 is getting even more unbearable every week. #BringBackNicoRosberg #BringBackJensonButton #BringBackJacquesVillenueve.
Martin Brundle, mate, why so salty? I’ve resorted to watching in Portuguese. I don’t speak a lick of Portuguese, but goodness me, it’s much better than hearing commentators take bites out of drivers or make calls contrary to what we can literally see with our eyes.
Leclerc, Leclerc, Lec-*coughing noises* pranced all the way to the podium. Finally, the moon reflected off Maranello, Italy’s own son. That win is going to hit like a steam train.
Hold your kangaroos (I mean no offense to Australians)! An Aussie is leading the championship for the first time since Mark Webber in 2010. Coincidentally, Webber is Piastri’s manager. We’re in for a season. I can’t wait. Turn the heat all the way up.
