I normally don’t talk about qualifying but this week’s qualifying was very interesting. We also had a sprint race this week. Sprint races are mini races that take place the Saturday before the race. They are about half the length of a normal race. Whoever wins the Sprint Race, gets a poll position for the race on Sunday.

Q1

Alex Albon’s brakes caught on fire which means he is out of qualifying and that gives us our 1st red flag. Lewis Hamilton makes it through to the next round of Qualifying by the skin of his teeth.

Q2

Carlos Sainz goes into the wall making us have our 2nd red flag of the day. Both Mercedes were knock out of qualifying. This is the first time they have not made it to Qualifying 3 since the Japanese GP in 2012.

Q3 

K.Mag  runs the car into the wall giving us our 3rd red flag of the day. Leclerc goes fastest Max Verstappen goes 2nd fasted and is 2 hundredths of a second from fastest. Bottas beaches his car and gives us our 4th red flag. After the red flag is removed Max gets the fastest lap and then Norris goes into the wall giving us our 5th red flag. There are only a few seconds left in Qualifying when this happens so they will not resume. This means Max starts with poll for the Sprint Race. 

Sprint Race

Lap 1– Leclerc gets a great start pulling ahead of Max Verstappen who is now in 2nd. It is a fight for fourth with Lando Norris being in 3rd. K.Mag, Ricciardo, and Pérez go three wide. K.Mag goes wheel to wheel with Ricciardo, K.Mag coming out ahead. Ricciardo gets passed by Pérez. All the Ferrari fans in the stands are going crazy over Leclerc. There is a yellow flag because Zhou went off the track.

Lap 5– The Safety car was off. Alonso was bumped by Sainz. Sainz can not make it past Alonso.

Lap 7– Sainz passes Alonso on the inside.

Lap 8– Pérez in the DRS (Drag Reduction System) zone makes a move on K.Mag, he passes very smoothly.

Lap 11– Pérez passes Norris. Ricciardo goes to make a move on K.Mag and he does he passes on the inside.

Lap 12– Sainz passes K.Mag in the DRS

Lap 14– Sainz passes Ricciardo

Lap 16– Bottas trying to pass Alonso on the straight. Going into the turn he takes the inside and passes him.

Lap 20- Max is passing Leclerc on the straight. Going into the corner he takes the long way around and passes him going down the straight.

For the Sprint race, the winners are 1st place Max Verstappen, 2nd place Charles Leclerc, and 3rd place Sergio Pérez.

Race Day

Lap 1– Pérez and Verstappen make it away very well leaving Leclerc in 3rd. Lando Norris gets the inside and gets ahead of Leclerc leaving him in 4th place. Threw the corner Saniz takes the inside and Ricciardo cuts into him running him off track. 

Lap 7– As Hamilton is passing Alonso there is a hole in the side of his car then a big piece of it flips off. There is a massive hole in the side of the car. Alonso pits and they decide the damage is too large and retire the car from the race.

Lap 8– Leclerc goes for the pass on Norris and he gets it going into the chicane. The Tifosi (what they call the Ferrari fans) go crazy with cheers in the stands.

Lap 12– Going into the turn Russel is going for the pass on K.Mag and he gets it. In the turn, he fumbles a bit on the outside of the track leading K.Mag to repass him.

Later in lap 12– Later in Lap 12 Russel makes the move again and he keeps the position K.Mag not passing him back.

Lap 13– Bottas passes K.Mag.

Lap 19-Pérez pits.

Lap 20– Leclerc and Verstappen both pit. Coming out of the pit Leclerc gets ahead of Pérez. Pérez has much warmer tires and is able to overtake him. Leclerc is in 3rd. Esteban Ocon gets a 5-second penalty because of his unsafe release in the pits.

Lap 48– Tsunoda passes K.Mag.

Lap 53– Leclerc goes too hard around the corner and slides on the side into the wall. He keeps the car moving and has damage to the front wing.

Lap 54– Leclerc pits and comes out behind Tsunoda. Tsunoda passes Vettel.

Lap 56– Leclerc passes K.Mag now he is in 8th.

Lap 59– Leclerc passes Vettel.

Lap 62-Leclerc passes Tsunoda.

Verstappen gets first, Pérez is in second, and Norris gets 3rd.