First of all it was a very interesting starting grid with Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen on pole. I was sure that this would motivate him enough to give everything he's got and more. The Iceman took his best start of the season and stayed in front. His teammate Sebastian Vettel tried a little too much and smacked into Lewis Hamilton. Of course he blamed Hamilton for the crash... He dropped to the back and had to pit. This was clearly not Hamilton's fault because he was already ahead of Vettel... or if you disagree then please send me a message and explain your point of view.
On lap 4 Hamilton overtook Räikkönen for the lead and when we all thought that Hamilton would fly to the distance the Iceman took the lead back!! I loved that! Finally we see some real racing for once! All it takes is a 4 time world champion and the oldest driver out there. At this point I was cheering for Räikkönen and not because he is a Ferrari driver but because he is the legendary Iceman! Never really been a Ferrari fan. I love the cars but not the team. I mean look what they did to Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa for example! They are doing it to Räikkönen as well... everybody were saying before the race "how will Ferrari screw up Räikkönen's race this time so that Vettel gets ahead?". Räikkönen was lucky Vettel spun!
Räikkönen could have won the race easily but the tyres were too damaged. He could have saved the tyres more if he could have driven in the lead for a longer time. His tyres got bad when he had to drive behind Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas for too long.
Mercedes had a much better race compared to Ferrari, better tactics and scored more points. Just a pity they had to use Bottas as Hamilton's help. Bottas could have fought for the win as well but they kept him out longer to slow down Räikkönen.
Bottas had some drama with Max Verstappen when they had a slight collision. It was clear that it was Verstappen's fault and he got a 5 second penalty. He has done that move before as well and got a penalty for that time too so why not learn from your mistakes? Because of this Bottas moved ahead of Verstappen in the final results and was on the podium.
Räikkönen was chosen "driver of the day" and I couldn't have agreed more.
And now it's time for my predictions and the results:
Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - WRONG. Räikkönen took pole for the first time this season.
Race:
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - CORRECT
- Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - WRONG. Räikkönen was 2nd and Bottas was 3rd.
- Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - WRONG. He was 4th.
Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - CORRECT
Surprise: Keep an eye on Esteban Ocon - He was surprisngly bad compared to his teammate.
