Round 2: Bahrain review..and Round 3: China preview

Justin:

What a great race eh?! Racing at the front and everything in between, 110%, for sure. Unquestionably.

But...MORE RACING AT/ NEAR THE FRONT. YEY! I appreciate that "yay" is a tad unprofessional, but I've been doing this blogging 10 years as a hobby/ passion...not as a pro. Yet ;-).

Highlights are here, courtesy of the amazing Channel 4 team again. 18 minutes in, Christian Horner showing Steve Jones some love haha.

Vettel

I do feel for Vettel. The guy I despised once, as the sworn enemy to Fernando back when it was RB vs Ferrari, and now what do you know I have actually developed a caring side for. Sort of.

LeClerc dominated Vettel all weekend, beating him to pole by 0.3 seconds. That is a lifetime for teammates in F1. Then, aside from the first few laps, he all but disappeared up the road and left Vettel for dust until his engine had problems.

Vettel spun under pressure and an overtake around the outside from Hamilton. That's a continuation of the errors he started making, on and off, at the halfway stage last year.

Now, every driver goes through bad spells. Look at Lewis and pretty much all of 2011! I had hoped Vettel would come back strong this year and wipe the floor with everyone. Two races in and it isn't the case just yet. He has LeClerc to deal with as well as two fast Merc drivers and a resurgent Verstappen in the Red Bull.

He, Vettel, had a cracking start to the race, then went backwards.

Bottas

Looked mega fighty and quick at the start, then faded but still claimed 2nd. He didn't look too fighty in the middle of the race, but thanks to Ferrari misfortune Mercedes grabbed a 1-2 and Bottas got some great championship points. My jury is still out on whether Bottas is title material this year.

He made a mega costly error at the start of lap 2, locking up and allowing LeClerc then Hamilton to pass. But, he is certainly making it more fun for the moment as part of a possible all Merc and all Ferrari fight.

Ferrari 

Found the pre-season fastest of all pace they promised but missed in Australia. But, they didn't win the race. Hmmm...is 2019 actually 2018 all over again?!

They already have team dynamic issues. LeClerc was asked to hold station behind Vettel. Erm nope! He stated he was faster and just went for the overtake. Which actually led to half a lap of fun fighting at the front. Sod Vettel. Sod Ferrari. That's what champions and championships are made of...defying team orders. Multi 21 Seb??

Eh?

Really, what kind of fucking name is "Racing Point"?? It sounds like a pointing dog that is pointing at, well, something.

Which driver?

I've always followed drivers over teams. Mansell, Hill, Villeneuve, Alonso....and now that Fernando has retired..?? I'm somewhat adrift. I thought my racing heart would gravitate towards Danny Ric, but I have to be honest that it hasn't so far. I..don't really have a favourite driver right now and I'm somewhat adrift in whom to cheer for.

LeClerc to challenge for the title?

I'm unsure if I am asking a question or stating a fact. Charles showed a lot of maturity in losing the race win via engine issues. He had immediate perspective and calm. Let's face it, he was dominant all weekend and for the majority of the race.

If Bottas cuts the errors and Vettel gets his act together...we could have a 4 car fight for the title between the Mercedes and Ferrari teams. Should be more fun for the neutral over the wipeout of the last half of 2018 where Hamilton walked it.

1000 up

China this coming weekend brings us the 1,000th F1 championship Grand Prix. I would say I fancy a Ferrari win, but then again they were heavily fancied in Australia and Bahrain...

Renault, in particular Danny Ric, need to do better. As does Sainz at McLaren.

I'd say the standout superstar so far this year is clearly Lando Norris. That guy is doing amazing things in the midfield McLaren, making Sainz look a tad slow right now for sure.

Poor Williams, around a second down on the next team on the grid. They need to turn things around quickly. Unfortunately you can make a quick car reliable but it's a lot more tricky to make a slow car fast. Or something.