Lando Norris (McLaren)
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Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
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Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
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George Russell (Mercedes)
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Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
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Niko Hülkenberg (Haas)
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Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
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Yuki Tsunoda (RB)
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Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
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Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari)
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Alex Albon (Williams)
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Franco Colapinto (Williams)
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Sergio Pérez (Red Bull)
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Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
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Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
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Daniel Ricciardo (RB)
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Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
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Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
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Valtteri Bottas (Kick Sauber)
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Zhou Guanyu (Kick Sauber)
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Now then. Now then. NOW. THEN. We’ve spent the last few weeks wondering if we’ve got ourselves a title race and finally the answer seems clear: yes we do.
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Max Verstappen leads Lando Norris at the top of the driver standings by 59 points but, as we’ve learnt over the last few days – and weeks and months – his car is “fucked”. He said that word?! No! Horrors! How absolutely dare he! The paragons of F1 would never!
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After forcing himself into the points from near the back in Baku last week, Norris begins today in pole and as such, is a heavy favourite to win the race. But Verstappen is just one spot behind him so, even if he can’t move in front, is well placed to limit any potential inroads the challenger might make into his cushion.
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Which is easy to say. Because this being F1, what might happen barely matters because what does happen – the three-time world champ being handed a community service order for inadvertently using a naughty word to honestly describe his car, say – bears so little resemblance to reality that to predict any of it feels almost as foolish as the ludicrosity we’ve just discussed. Here we go!
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Lights out: 8pm local, 1pm BST
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Main Events
By the way, Hamilton This will be his 350th GP. He's had a truly incredible career and I really hope we can see him in a fully competitive car again before he retires.
There's something special about night racing. It's amazing outside.
We are almost ready to depart. This is going to be awesome.
Stroll has brake problems The mechanics are sorting them out as a precaution and it remains to be seen whether the car will be ready in time, but the team is confident there will be no issues.
“We have to be careful what we say.” Vera Stappen tells Brundle, whose next line is, “Where's Lenny Kravitz?”, the last we hear as we wander the fields of joy.
Christian Horner thinks it will be “an exciting first lap.” So perhaps he thinks that if Verstappen cannot overtake Norris at the start, he may have to be content with holding on to second place.
Mark Cavendish (sorry, Cav) is also in attendance, and largely ignores Martin Brundle's personal space when answering questions.He loves the mental concentration of F1 and has to make his own engine in his game, but F1 drivers can't lose focus for even a second, and he says that because his races are long, he can “play relaxed.” I once heard him say something impressive about the Tour: “There's a reason to suffer so much,” but maybe he's being a little self-deprecating.
Jackie Stewart is at home, Of course, he's wearing his trademark tartan flat cap over a Swede – we should all look this good at 85 (sorry, I don't have a photo I can use at the moment).
Marshawn Lynch style.
I can't believe it's 2024 and I still have to do this. But Lewis, keep going.
It seems like a one-stop strategy, From soft to hard tyres, there are plenty of cars to beat. Overtaking has been difficult on this circuit so far, but the new DRS zones might help. Incidentally, this race has never been completed without a safety car.
Also in progress:
Notza looks as relaxed as ever. As he explains how confident he is in his car, Russell comes up from behind and shouts, “Let's go round!” He sees every race as an opportunity, but he's racing against so many great guys and people forget that Red Bull is still Red Bull. That's unlikely. He knows it all hangs in the balance.
The best driver in the last seven races (none of which have been won by a champion) is Oscar Piastri. He drove superbly last week, particularly with his composure, and is confident enough to overtake the two Mercedes in front of him.
grid
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Lando Norris (McLaren)
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Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
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Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
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George Russell (Mercedes)
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Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
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Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
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Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
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Yuki Tsunoda (RB)
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Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
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Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari)
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Alex Albon (Williams)
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Franco Colapinto (Williams)
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Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
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Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
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Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
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Daniel Ricciardo (RB)
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Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
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Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
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Valtteri Bottas (Kick Sauber)
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Zhou Guanyu (Kick Sauber)
preamble
Well. Now. Now. Then. For the last few weeks we have been wondering whether we are in the title fight or not and now the answer is clear: we are in the title fight.
Max Verstappen leads Lando Norris by 59 points in the drivers' standings, but as we've seen over the past few days, weeks and months, his car is “shit”. He said those words?! No! Horrible! How dare he say those words! A paragon of F1 doesn't do that!
Norris, who came from behind to finish in the points in Baku last week, will start from pole position today and is one of the favourites to win, but Verstappen is just behind Norris and, even if he can't get ahead, is in a good position to limit the chances of a challenger trying to take Norris' lead.
That's easy to say, this is F1, so it hardly matters what happens, because what actually happens (e.g. a three-time world champion receiving a community service order for accidentally using vulgar language when honestly describing his car) will bear so little resemblance to reality that predicting it feels just as silly as the idiocy we just discussed. So let's get started!
Lights out: 8pm local time, 1pm BST
