I think this one is a genuine step forwards, which is great for the spectacle and the championship as a whole. There really wasn't any sign of porpoising, but tomorrow will be very telling. Fingers crossed. The Ferrari, particularly in the hands of Charles, looks very quick over a lap, but it's eating it's tyres still, and the RBR looks a lot faster in race trim.
I'm not sure how to feel about the race TBH. On one hand, it's a circuit where it's traditionally hard to overtake but on the other hand due to the high temperature it's a guaranteed 2 stop race. Plus Mercedes will be stronger. So it could be a dull race or it could be a cracker. Sitting on the fence.
Merc and RBR seem confident they can both overhaul Ferrari in the race, as the long runs suggest that the Ferrari us around 0.5s per lap down on the RBR, and it eats its tyres. I hope that’s entirely wrong, but could be set for a three stopper.
This is catastrophic for Max's chances. His faulty DRS is keeping him behind George while Charles keeps building that lead out in front. I think Charles should buy George a drink afterwards at this rate.
Leclerc going around the garage hugging the mechanics.. Verstappen saying the team can’t even build DRS properly. Says a lot about their characters…
