Well, the verdict on the Madring after the inaugural race there seems fairly unanimous. The long pit lane discourages pit stops (only one is mandatory) and the lack of overtaking opportunities leads to dull racing. The race organizers have said they're fully open to changes for next year, but it makes you wonder who thought it was a good layout this year.
Seeing as I didn't post the starting positions for the race, Lando Norris took pole ahead of Kimi Antonelli, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Lando just held the lead at the start and Max got to second after initially slipping back to fourth. Because Max left the track to get ahead, his team advised him to give both places back to avoid a time penalty. Only a lap later, while looking good in third, Lewis suffered a brake failure and had to retire.
At lap 15, Lance Stroll pulled off the circuit bringing out a virtual safety car. This allowed Kimi and Max a "cheap" pit stop from second and third, but leader Lando missed out due to his track position. He pitted on the next lap, but the virtual safety car had just ended, so he slipped back to third. Hoping for a second safety car that didn't come, Charles Leclerc waited until lap 49 (of 57) to make his only pit stop, dropping back from first to fourth.
At the flag, it was Kimi with another victory ahead of Max, Lando and Charles. Race highlights (I use the term loosely) are here.
Kimi now leads his team mate George Russell by 81 points, which is over three race wins. The next race is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in just over a week. For some reason the race weekend is going to be Thursday to Saturday instead of the usual Friday to Sunday.
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HossC ·
