The Polesitter

  F1 is brutal. It is high speed. It is high risk. It requires precision. It requires boldness.  The 2021 British Grand Prix is a race that will be talked about for the entire season because of one and only one moment that took place at Copse corner on lap 1. That is the contact made between title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen which sent the dutchman into the wall at incredibly high speed resulting in a 51G crash and a red flag. The Red Bull driver was taken to hospital soon after the incident and I hope that he is alright and gets well soon.  Throughout the season this rivalry has been reminiscent of the battle that Lewis Hamilton had with Nico Rosberg from 2014 to 2016 when Rosberg finally won the championship. Intense racing, almost scary at times with fans not knowing whether the drivers would come out of it unscathed. Think about Bahrain 2014 and Spain 2016 as a couple of examples where the racing was unbelievably tight. However, it was in Spain in 2016 wh...

  If you thought last weekend was a dominating performance by Red Bull and Max Verstappen, boy oh boy you were wrong.  Fastest lap after fastest lap, extending the lead further and further, untouchable till the very end; the Dutchman made it a Red Bull Ring double and his 3rd victory in a row. Their car is truly the dominant force in Formula 1 at the moment and nobody can even remotely compete with them - even the Silver Arrows. Lewis Hamilton and Valterri Bottas had no answers for the dominance showed by the Red Bulls this weekend as their competition ended up being the McLaren of Lando Norris who had a sublime weekend it must be said.  After qualifying in second place - his best ever in Formula 1 to date, Norris lost a couple of places to the Silver Arrows but was able to make up one of them - specifically that of Lewis Hamilton. The Brit had suffered damage to his floor on lap 29 before coming in for his pit stop, which meant that he was losing more than half a second ...

  If last night's race was an indication of anything, it was that we have a new number 1 team at the top of Formula 1. And it is not Mercedes.  A race that was dominated by the Red Bulls on their home turf saw Max Verstappen win with ease at the Red Bull Ring with the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Bottas taking up the rest of the podium positions. Perez finished 4th thanks to a poor pitstop by the Red Bull crew with Lando Norris an impressive 5th place. He truly has been the best of the rest this season. We're used to seeing Pierre Gasly in 6th however he suffered suspension damage after coming into contact with Charles Leclerc on the opening lap meaning he was out of the race. Speaking of the Monegasque, he finished 7th right behind his teammate leading to a good haul of points for the prancing red horses as their battle with McLaren for 3rd becomes even more intense. A brilliant drive by the trio of Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda saw them wrap up the rest of t...

  Pictures speak a thousand words. That could not be more true when we see the podium from last weekend's race at Circuit Paul Ricard. The joy on one's face and the feeling of loss on another.  About a month ago Mercedes performed a strategic masterclass to oust Red Bull at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain. The sting that Red Bull felt from that very race was reciprocated in France as Max Verstappen came to take his 3rd win of the season and extend his lead ahead of Lewis Hamilton to 12 points. It was not all straight sailing from pole position though.  Losing his first place at the start of the race by going deep into turn 1, the Dutchman had an uphill battle to climb as he conceded the race lead to Lewis Hamilton. The first stint on medium tyres saw the Briton build a comfortable lead of 3 seconds before both his teammate Bottas and title rival Verstappen pitted. With fresh hard tyres on Verstappen put on a blistering outlap and overtook Hamilton into turn 1 which is w...

  There are few words that can be used to describe the Azerbaijan Grand Prix that we witnessed on Sunday night. No changes to the title fight, questions looming over the heads of Pirelli and a podium that we would not have expected come Sunday night.  Baku has been known to be a place of drama with a safety car being required in every race that has been held here since it first hosted in 2016. That was no different this year as on lap 31 a huge tyre blowout for Lance Stroll brought out the first safety car of the race. Having run the hard tyre from the start of the race, Aston Martin expected to go long in the hopes of being able to pit under a safety car. Unfortunately they were the reason it was brought out. Many eyes will be on Pirelli in the upcoming days as they said their tyres would last longer. A similar fate to Lance Stroll was experienced tantalisingly close to the end of the race by non other than race leader Max Verstappen. Having driven a sublime race from the sta...

  The Formula World Championship took a huge turn on Sunday with the conclusion of one of Formula 1's most historic events - the Monaco Grand Prix. For the first time since Germany 2018, a team other than Mercedes have led the Drivers and Constructors championships. This team is non other than Red Bull who are finally seeing days which remind them of their ever so dominant era between 2009 and 2013.  It was a race of many first for the season. The first time there was no Mercedes on the podium. The first time both Aston Martin's finished in the points. The first time Pierre Gasly finished 6th in the principality. Leading Lewis Hamilton for the entire 78 laps, it was a tremendous drive from him under plenty of pressure throughout from the 7 time World Champion.  A conclusion of 300 kilometers of racing in possibly the globe's richest location saw Max Verstappen win with Carlos Sainz 2nd and Lando Norris completing the podium positions. This would definitely have to be one ...

  An unexpected start, a crazy strategy call, and 66 laps of tyre management. The Spanish Grand Prix returned once again to Circuit de Catalunya but was not as exciting as one may think.  A record-breaking qualifying session saw reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton reach a ton of poles, the first man in the history of the sport to ever achieve the feat. It was once again the Red Bull of Max Verstappen behind him who was close to denying him the record with the fast, not flying anymore, Finn behind the pair.  A tremendous getaway by the Red Bull as the lights went out saw him take the lead from the Briton into turn 1 as he kept his elbows out. In the worlds of Crofty, his elbows had razor blades on them which is why Lewis was smart to not challenge it. Right behind the duo, Bottas lost his 3rd place to Charles Leclerc who also had a fantastic getaway, taking a smarter line through turn 3 to easily fly past Bottas before turn 4. The Alpines of Ocon and Alonso, who had bee...