It’s winter break, so I’m rewatching old races and emotionally reinvesting in storylines that I already know end in either glory or trauma. Here we go.
Summary:
Nico Rosberg had a full “perfect weekend” moment. Pole, win, clean air, no stress. Just vibes. The Spanish GP continues its streak of unpredictability with nine different winners in nine years. Toro Rosso locking out the third row above Red Bull was ICONIC… keeping those spots? Not so iconic. Lotus engaged in friendly fire. Pastor drove half the race with a rear wing that looked like it was zip-tied to optimism. Ferrari did Ferrari things. McLaren celebrated simply existing. And somehow the pit lane had as much drama as the actual race.
General Race Notes:
• This track loves the pole sitter. If you nail quali, you basically unlock Easy Mode. Overtaking is hard, undercuts are powerful, track position is king. Kimi unfortunately had tyre blanket issues and just never felt comfortable in the car. Spain said “no rhythm for you.”
• “For the best race strategy, you start at the start…” Thank you Ted Kravitz. Revolutionary stuff. Groundbreaking insight.
• “McLaren Honda WILL get it together, it’s a question of when.” Martin Brundle, respectfully… it was a question of who leaves first. Honda to Red Bull. McLaren to Mercedes. And now 2026 testing with Honda at Aston is looking suspicious again. The cycle continues.
• Ferrari™ strategy remains a genre of entertainment.
• Coverage was very front-heavy this race. If you were running P11 to P15 you basically entered the witness protection program.
• HOW did I forget this was the race with the iconic mechanic holding ice on his junk. Romain really said “today I choose chaos” and Lotus paid the price. What a day for that team.
• Post-race Red Bull threatening to leave the sport again over Renault reliability. Honestly, Red Bull when upset has the emotional energy of “fine, I’ll just leave then.” It’s either nuclear meltdown or eerily calm nihilism. Ferrari sulks. Williams rebuilds quietly. Mercedes results in bureaucratic whining. Alpine screams into the void. Red Bull? You never know if they’re about to dominate or detonate.
Race Notes by Driver's Finishing Position:
P1 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) - Man did all the work on Saturday and then went for a Sunday cruise. With the split strategies between the Mercedes drivers, even when Lewis cycled ahead temporarily, it still felt inevitable Nico was taking this one. He looked calm, controlled, and slightly smug in that “I did exactly what I needed to” way. And wow does this man have a way with languages, starting his interview in Spanish shocked the presenter!
P2 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - Awful start. Long pit stop. Immediately turns into an action movie comeback arc. His overtake on Kimi on lap 34 was clinical. And that move on Valtteri down the main straight from Bottas’ rear camera angle? Chef’s kiss. Mercedes pulling the undercut on Seb was ruthless efficiency.
P3 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) - another Ferrari ™ moment once again to let Lewis creep into pit window range before reacting. Too focused on Bottas, not enough on Hamilton. So they pivot to a three-stop. Seb screaming “come on blue flag!” over team radio while fighting traffic was pure Kimi-coded energy. F1 husbands behavior. Even the commentators were comparing how both Ferrari drivers lose patience with backmarkers in identical fashion.
P4 Valtteri Bottas (Williams Mercedes) - Valtteri was scrapping all race. Strong defense, solid pace, no panic. It’s really no wonder Mercedes had him circled as the logical replacement post-2016. Honestly, performances like this might have made Nico’s contract talks a little uncomfortable.
Driver's parade memories for Valtteri!
P5 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) - Lol what is with Kimi tormenting Max in Spain?! Making Max's life stressful right from the first lap and having a fun time doing it! Lap one was chaotic but Kimi navigated both Toro Rosso rookies without touching a single carbon fiber panel. Then Ferrari tried the two-stop strategy and… it did not work. “Ferrari’s inability to improvise” was said on broadcast and honestly ten years later that line still holds up. You disappear from coverage for half a race and then reappear just in time to get overtaken.
P6 Felipe Massa (Williams Mercedes) - Finished sixth and somehow achieved near invisibility. Solid result, minimal screen time. The ultimate stealth points haul.
Awesome memory for Massa's son though!
P7 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing) - Clean, tidy race. No drama. Just recovered from poor qualifying and salvaged solid points. Sometimes Daniel chooses stability over chaos. Rare, but it happens.
P8 Romain Grosjean (Lotus) - Oh Romain. The teammate contact reputation was in full bloom. The engineers BEGGING him on the radio about the “bad gear” situation was incredible.
“If you don’t lift, you’ll blow the engine.”
“You HAVE to.”
This was less strategy call and more hostage negotiation. And then he runs into the front jack man. You can't just run into your front jack man like that! I know Fernando is everyone's Idol but no one can do it like he can, so don't even try.
P9 Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) - Points at his home GP! Commentators praising his race craft early was nice to hear. He has always been strategic, even back then. What wasn’t nice was the backhanded Max slander woven into compliments. You can hype Carlos without calling a teenager overrated. Damon Hill starting his anti-Max arc early.
Carlos dropped from P5 to P13 by lap 19 because Toro Rosso got strategy wrong. But the late-race battle with Max? Elite. The overtake into Turn 1 on lap 63 when Max’s tyres were fading was bold. And then the aggressive move on Daniil on the last lap? Home crowd energy. Stewards let it stand. Spain was fed.
P10 Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull Racing) - Pulled off a brave overtake on Max. Probably thrilled to be released ahead of him after the pit stops because battling that rookie was stressful. Then Carlos comes flying through on the last lap. Daniil just trying to survive the Toro Rosso civil war.
P11 Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso) - HE FINISHED. After three DNFs in four races, that alone is an achievement. Also, that Toro Rosso livery was stunning. Gold accents, white lines, deep blue, those wheels. A rookie gets handed that masterpiece for his debut season? Unreal. On the grid walk Max said, word for word, “Normally I’m strong in the race anyway than in qualifying.” Oh sweetheart. Spain said absolutely not. Dropped down the order as strategy and tyre degradation bit hard. The commentators calling him overhyped while boosting Carlos is ironic considering what happens here one year later. The Racing Gods were definitely listening. Also, pit stop tracking back then was chaotic. No pretty side graphics. You needed a notebook and keen ears.
P12 Felipe Nasr (Sauber) - I feel like there was very little mention of the drivers at the middle of the pack. The focus was on the front runners and the occasional battles between teammates (the Toro Rosso Rookies and the Lotuses). But hey, no news is good news I guess?
P13 Sergio Perez (Force India) - Checo achieved the rare “entire race without broadcast mention” achievement.
P14 Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) - Nice little scraps with Hulkenberg. Solid midfield hustle.
P15 Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) - See above. Hulk and Marcus keeping each other entertained.
P16 Jenson Button (McLaren) - Pre-race interview was basically Jenson gentle parenting himself. “Points aren’t the goal. We just want to understand the car.” Sir, the car is spinning its wheels in fear. He later called it “scary to drive.” A world champion. Scared. Also his drink system wasn’t working. Spain heat, no hydration, and wheelspin trauma. Pain.
P17 Will Stevens (Manor) - I honestly don't remember seeing him at all this race!
P18 Roberto Merhi (Manor) - Home race! He looked thrilled in the parade. That’s a win in itself.
Ret Pastor Maldonado (Lotus) - Friendly fire strikes Lotus. Pastor got the worst of it. But he had a gorgeous overtake on Max earlier that deserves recognition. The collision replay showed Romain’s front tagging Pastor’s rear tyre which snapped the rear wing support. And then production spent a full minute zoomed in on his broken wing flapping in the wind. 😂. Cinema. Even with a damaged wing he passed Jenson. Commentators just said “ouch.” Finally retired lap 47. Four DNFs in five races. Consistency, just not the kind you want.
Ret Fernando Alonso (McLaren) - Another instance of the Fernando Alonso bad luck. Home race heartbreak. A visor tear-off jammed in the brakes. He comes into the pit and just cannot slow the car. My heart rate spiked watching that replay, thank goodness the front jack man was able to get out of the way in time. Given the state of McLaren-Honda that year, his race probably wasn’t going anywhere glorious anyway. But retiring at your home GP like that? Brutal.
And then I saw this post about 2026 testing:
“Alonso’s mental state when his new Honda-Newey partnership that dominated four years ago is just a green McHonda.” 🤭🤭🤭 It’s not funny. But it is. Fernando calling himself the unluckiest driver might actually be accurate. We wait. We observe. We emotionally prepare.
It's winter break, so I'm rewatching a bunch of races. Here are some of my thoughts.
Summary:
Malaysia 2015 was the moment Formula 1 collectively said “what if we made everything hotter, slipperier, and more chaotic just to see what happens.” The tyres melted, the drivers sweated out their souls, and the overtakes came in so fast it looked like someone accidentally pressed fast-forward. Manor barely participated, McLaren-Honda barely functioned, and Ferrari suddenly remembered how to win races. Seb partied, Lewis negotiated with his tyres like they were misbehaving coworkers, and the entire midfield treated the track limits like polite suggestions. It was messy, loud, and gloriously unhinged. Basically, peak early-hybrid era energy.
General Race Notes:
Wet quali in Malaysia actually looked refreshing. These drivers step out of the cars looking like they have been steamed like dumplings, so the rain was doing them a favor.
Manor is still Manor. One car survives long enough to qualify. The other does not even set a time because the team is basically held together with duct tape and optimism.
Lewis takes his second pole of the season, the 40th of his career.
Malaysia continues to be a furnace. Track temp hits 61°C (142°F). Tyres degrade fast under normal circumstances, but here they are melting. Combine that with a high-speed layout and the entire race becomes an exercise in tyre survival.
Ferrari entered 2015 feeling good. Seb and Kimi actually liked their car, which is rare enough to document for historical purposes.
Going back to tyres, what I liked about this period was that the tyres were smaller both in height and width. The smaller, skinnier tyres of this era were chaos. They degraded quickly, the corners punished them, and the teams had to actually think about strategy. Modern tyres look sturdy compared to these poor things.
Two punctures at the start of the race! Immediate entertainment.
Half the race felt like the world’s most expensive bumper car installation. Compared to 2025, where most races looked like carefully choreographed traffic, 2015 is feral in the best way. Lighter regulations, fewer constraints, more bangers.
Race Notes by Driver's Finishing Position:
P1 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) - Seb thrives in heat. Malaysia, Singapore, anything that feels like a sauna. He got his elbows out with Nico at the start, then ran a clean, controlled race. Look at this cutie! A Farrari winner just like his idol and mentor, Michael Schumacher. This was also his 40th win in Formula 1 and 4th win on this circuit. And saying he just wanted to get "pissed [drunk]" as a celebration for his victory. Peak Seb! Look at him, his eyes are sparkling like he's just fulfilled his greatest dream!
P2 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - Massive degradation issues, had to pit early. People used to hold it against Lewis that he “complained” a lot on the radio (people say the same about Max now), but he was giving the team data. His style relies on constant feedback and talking things out. It’s less whining, more problem-solving out loud. Really his race engineer (Bono) was a sounding board and comfort blanket most of the time.
P3 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) - Still cautious at race starts. Sometimes that’s smart, sometimes it lets the bolder guys run circles around you. Nico prefers clean starts, not knife fights.
P4 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) - From P18 from a blown up tyre to P4. This is why people worship Kimi. He just gets on with it.
P5 Valtteri Bottas (Williams) - Caught in the turn one chaos, then a slow release ruins his early race. Fights Massa at the end, otherwise quiet.
P6 Felipe Massa (Williams) - Gave me a scare with the “engine problem” radio early on. Spent a third of the race fending off Bottas like a man possessed.
P7 Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso) - Qualified nine spots ahead (P6) of Carlos and equals his dad's best quali position. This is the race where Brundle says he wouldn’t pick Max for a night out because Max is “too serious”. Sir, that was a literal CHILD. In 2025, the same man says Max is his go-to choice for grabbing a pint.
Max said he wanted the Toro Rossos to challenge the Red Bulls this race, and sure enough the both of them did! Dropped to P10, fought Romain cleanly, passed Kvyat after the SC restart, then passed Checo a lap later. Showed early signs of the classic switchback style he uses so well. Mowed some grass entering the pit lane for comedy. Later overtakes Carlos with a move that looked accidental because Carlos braked early, either way his reflexes are amazing. Youngest points scorer forever, thanks to the minimum age rule change.
P8 Carlos Sainz Jr. (Toro Rosso) - Gains seven positions. Up to P11 on lap one after starting P15. Even reaches P5 for a bit. Clean fights across the race. Excellent recovery from a rough starting position!
P9 Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull Racing) - Runs wide on lap 7, lets Max past, then uses Max’s move on Sergio to get by him as well. Red Bull brakes are producing a shocking amount of dust.
P10 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing) - Our lovely last of the late breakers. Sometimes it works, sometimes you go wide and lose a place. Spent most of the race struggling with going wide, possibly caused by early front wing damage. Also producing brake dust like he is sanding furniture.
P11 Romain Grosjean (Lotus) - Got a grid penalty for not leaving the pitlane in order of arrival. Still no idea what that meant in 2015. Had a fun early scrap with Max. Spins after contact with Checo on lap 31 but recovers well. Look at how pretty the Lotus and Toro Rosso livery's go together with their gold and red accents.
P12 Felipe Nasr (Sauber) - Barely shown. Race existed, but only technically.
P13 Sergio Pérez (Force India) - Respectable pace considering the car. Unfortunately gets into contact with several drivers and picks up a penalty. Chaos magnet.
P14 Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) - Possibly tagged Kimi at the start. Definitely hit Daniil later and earned a penalty. Not his cleanest day.
P15 Roberto Merhi (Manor) - Car finishes the race. For 2015 Manor, that is basically a victory.
Ret Pastor Maldonado (Lotus) - He had braces this season. Love to see adults fixing their teeth and not be shy about their braces! Gets a penalty for exceeding the safety car speed, then retires due to brake issues.
Ret Jenson Button (McLaren) - Commentators wonder if he can score points, so naturally the turbo fails and he retires on lap 40. The curse remains undefeated.
Ret Fernando Alonso (McLaren) - Engine failure on lap 21 while in P9. Rough McLaren-Honda debut. Not his doing. But I bet he was absolutely regretting his choice to leave Ferrari.
Ret Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) - Went for an ambitious move, beached it, triggered the SC. Exit stage left.
DNS Will Stevens (Manor) - Fuel system refuses to cooperate. For the second week in a row, he cannot start.
And finally a photo of Seb's finger because I can't leave it out!
It's winter break, so I'm rewatching a bunch of races. Here are some of my thoughts.
Summary:
Mercedes get the win, but Ferrari and Kimi basically haunt the entire race like an ominous ghost that refuses to leave. Nico is fighting like the championship is on the line already, Valtteri defends like his life savings depend on it, Red Bull survives, McLaren continues its suffering era, and half the grid is just praying their car survives the desert heat. Night race chaos under pretty lights.
General Race Notes:
Our first night race of the season. And as always, turn 1 on lap 1 decides everyone’s mood for the next 90 minutes.
Four pole positions in four races for Lewis. He was absolutely on a roll. Seb split the Mercedes with Kimi starting P4.
Ten years ago in Bahrain, Sky Sports were fantasizing about Lewis at Ferrari. After the 2025 season, I bet they wish they’d kept quiet.
First Kimi podium of the year, though poor Seb paid the price with a messy race. Ferrari giveth, Ferrari taketh away.
Nico admitted this weekend that staying friends with Lewis while teammates just wasn’t possible anymore, and they’d have to keep things professional. But the way he said it felt like he hoped they could be friends again someday. Honestly, his friendship with Lewis might have played a role in his decision to retire after 2016. Maybe he thought that if he wasn't competing against Lewis, that there was hope for mending their already stressed and fractured friendship. Hard to fight your childhood friend every weekend and pretend everything is fine. And Nico does seem to wear his heart on his sleeve…he seems like a sensitive guy. Strong but Sensitive, the girlies love that.
I love watching Nico's old interviews because he had the same sarcastic and honest humor back then as he still has today. Theres also characteristics you pick up on that I notice Nico emphasizing in commentary about other current drivers. For example, Nico is a bit self-deprecating "I just need to be better" (Lewis does it too, especially at Ferrari. God they broke him so bad in 2025), and he has pointed this out about Lando in current years. I think because he sees that part of himself in Lando. The fact that he hasn't changed in 10 years really shows that these drivers are real people, and show their raw personalities for the world to see.
One of the most frustrating things about this season is how the Sky Sports commentators (I have no choice but to watch their broadcasts) say the Felipes' last names. Massa and Nasr sound EXACTLY THE SAME in a British accent. Every time they say one of the Felipes I need context clues.
Is it really a race if there isn't someone questioning Ferrari™ strategy?
I don’t care what the commentators say, this race felt dictated by Kimi. His pace and tyre strategy forced Mercedes to react. He was the looming threat all race. Seb the chaos gremlin, Kimi the ominous presence. Perfect Ferrari balance.
Cool graphic this year showing fuel usage for the top ten drivers during the race. Wish they’d kept that permanently.
Top 3 were a full 30 seconds ahead of the rest! A league of their own.
Kimi and Valtteri were the MVPs of this race (obviously excluding Lewis), attacking and defending like champs!
Rose water podium celebrations remain the least satisfying podium spray in existence. Let them have champagne chaos.
Race Notes by Driver's Finishing Position:
P1 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - Broke DRS to Kimi quickly in the first few laps, his lead was helped by Kimi and Nico, and Nico and Seb scrapping behind him. And once again the broadcast gifts us Lewis complaining about tyres on the radio, reinforcing the legendary Lewis tyre bluff lore. Iconic behavior at this point.
P2 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) - This was the race where we found out if Ferrari was going to allow their drivers to race this season. He had an amazing race, great pace, and it looked like he really liked this track. His family was in attendance so naturally he delivers. Ferrari engineers aimed for P3 and Kimi basically said “watch this” and grabbed P2. Perfect pit timing gave him clean air and he just flew. Also peak entertainment hearing Kimi get progressively annoyed at backmarkers existing. And we got this gem of an interaction between Kimi and Maurizio Arrivabene…Kimi did not expect that hug and Seb is enjoying Kimi's discomfort! Kimi is so confused and immediately looks over to his emotional support Seb haha!
P3 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) - He said something in his pre-race interview. Martin Brundle asked how he was going to "come back at Lewis" and Nico said "I don't think about it as 'how am I going to come back' it's all down to me doing a good job" Which reminds me of Max's 2025 mindset "I don't think about losing, I think about how to win". Made some great overtakes on Kimi and Seb early in the race. The last race (or the team discussion afterwards) must have really fired him up because he was doing some real racing this weekend. Making aggressive, but calculated, moves to overtake. But WHY is Mercedes under fueling the car and forcing the drivers to lift and coast essentially the whole race? So frustrating as a watcher and a driver. Then the break by wire failure on lap 56 allowing Kimi to go through must have stung.
P4 Valtteri Bottas (Williams) - Best finishing position for Williams so far this season! He did great fending off Seb for P4. That was a lot of pressure for a lot of laps. Really showing his military training and resiliency under pressure. No wonder Mercedes wanted to promote him to the "big team" as soon as Nico Rosberg left.
P5 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) - Ferrari making Ferrari™ strategy calls with Seb to try the undercut on Nico Rosberg. The number of times we saw Seb and Nico fight this race felt like déjà vu. Gosh Seb was up Valtteri's butt for so long this race.
P6 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing) - Gained a position, went steady throughout the race! His engineer was encouraging him to keep close to the fight that was going on between Seb and Valtteri. And then dramatic engine failure right at crossing the finish line because Red Bull engines refuse to do things normally. That was a dramatic ending, no wonder DTS chose him to be their ~main character~ he definitely delivers on that energy haha.
P7 Romain Grosjean (Lotus) - Quiet, solid, points secured. Sometimes the best races are the ones where nothing explodes.
P8 Sergio Perez (Force India) - Classic Checo performance. Tire whisperer and defensive masterclass as always.
P9 Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull Racing) - Started P17 and got himself up to P9! He did a great overtake on Massa. Very impressive drive from him.
P10 Felipe Massa (Williams) - He had won this race twice before so knows the track. Electrical issue kept him from starting the formation lap, forcing him to start from the back. Still clawed his way back into points, already up to P13 by lap 8. Briefly reached P8 but tyre degradation hit hard late. Considering the start, impressive recovery. Williams wasn't at its former glory but these were the last few years of the team being at the top of the midfield.
P11 Fernando Alonso (McLaren) - His engineer coming on the radio MULTIPLE TIMES to tell Fernando that he will be racing people eventually is so toddler parent coded "just be good for a few more minutes and then you can play". But when he is finally able to "play" he doesn't even stand a chance against the opposition in this stupid McLaren!
P12 Felipe Nasr (Sauber) - Did a great overtake on Massa for P10 on lap 25! Sauber had great pace. But then they literally brought him in to pit and he lost that position. Kept making good overtakes throughout the race, doing great for his 4th F1 race.
P13 Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) - Listen, no points but with Hulk's luck, I'm always just happy to see him finish a race with no collisions.
P14 Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) - Such a long pitstop in the middle of the race.
P15 Pastor Maldonado (Lotus) - Had a bit of a brain fart at the beginning and demoted himself to a starting grid position of P18 instead of P16…5 second time penalty and super embarrassing for him. He also got in a collision with Max at the start. But did several good overtakes. On lap 43 he pits and is literally smoking at the pit entry! Gives the audience some ~DRAMA~ and threatening to DNF but they put him back out there in last place and we never saw him again hahah
P16 Will Stevens (Manor) - Had to start on P19 because Pastor started on the wrong grid spot and pushed him down a place too. Will just isn't having any luck yet.
Ret Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso) - Outqualified by his teammate once again but did manage to get into Q2 and started P15. Had to retire the car on lap 36 due to electrical problems…3/4 races ending in retirement would have 2025 Max fuming. Now, he just seems dejected and confused. Hey at least he had his teammate to keep him company after their joint retirements. After pitting on lap 7 he was at the back of the pack in P19 and wasn't able to recover his pace.
Ret Carlos Sainz Jr (Toro Rosso) - Once again got into Q3 and was able to qualify P9! But had to retire on lap 29 after he got out of the pits, seemed like a wheel issue. These poor Toro Rosso boys keep having issues that aren't even their faults, I guess that's one way to bond? What do they call that…trauma bonding. Like how I trauma bond with my coworkers when our boss is being particularly horrible. He also got a 5 second penalty for taking too long on the reconnaissance lap to the grid before the anthem.
DNS Jenson Button (McLaren) - Didn't even get to set a time for qualifying, didn't even get out of the garage! But Jenson said it was all a part of the strategy to "Save the tyres", sure Jenson, we know you're crying on the inside. Then the energy recovery system had a problem so he didn't even start. Just stayed in the pit lane and had to watch all the other boys have fun instead…like a kid staying home with the flu while the rest of the class got a pizza party. At this point he probably feels like a test/reserve driver with all the issues the car has been having. It doesn't feel like a real start to the season for him.
It's winter break, so I'm rewatching a bunch of races. Here are some of my thoughts.
Summary:
The 2015 Chinese Grand Prix was one of those races that sounds calm on paper but is quietly unhinged when you actually watch it. Everyone wanted to do the one-stop (but couldn't), track limits were more of a suggestion than a rule, and marshals were just casually on the live circuits without a VSC or SC, like it was no big deal. Lewis led from the front while actively playing psychological chess with Nico, Seb hovered menacingly in the background waiting for a mistake that never came, and Kimi served strong grumpy-buddy-cop backup energy. The midfield was pure chaos, with great scraps, terrible graphics, and commentary that was already showing its favorites. It all wrapped up with a stranded Toro Rosso, a late safety car, commentators begging for one more lap of racing, and Lewis happily taking the win under the saftey car. Messy, sweaty, strategy-heavy, and very 2015.
General Race Notes:
Everyone was trying to pull off a one-stop race, which already sets the tone for the strategy stress.
I completely forgot that back then, they just…did not deploy safety cars or VSCs when marshals were literally on track removing cars. Watching this now in 2025 is wild. It’s honestly shocking how lax safety was only ten years ago. Just vibes. “Be careful, lads.”
They also barely monitored track limits. I think partly because they didn’t care as much, but mostly because they didn’t have the tech to enforce it the way they do now. If you went wide but looked confident, it was fine.
What I absolutely love about this era is how the broadcast was directed. The cameras weren’t glued to the front runners. They really focused on midfield battles, which made everything feel chaotic and alive. Messy? Yes. Boring? Never.
What I don’t love is the lack of a permanent left-side timing tower. Instead, we get that scrolling ticker at the bottom that looks like the stock market on a bad day. I find it deeply irritating every single time.
I also forgot how much Sky Sports used to praise Max before he became a “threat” to Lewis. And at the same time, how openly critical and borderline resentful they were toward Nico Rosberg. Even more so than toward Seb. It always felt personal. I think it’s because Nico was a real championship threat the year before, whereas Seb fell out of contention fairly quickly. Nothing against Lewis, just something you really notice when rewatching. Similar to how I noticed the way commentary attention shifted away from Lewis once Lando arrived in 2019, and then commentary on Lewis drops off even more after 2022 to focus even more on Lando.
If this race happened today, Jenson’s collision with Pastor would 100 percent be a ten-second penalty plus a license point. Ollie Bearman Abu Dhabi 2025 style. Instead, he gets five seconds, and everyone moves on with their lives.
What’s funny is how the race ends. A car stops, triggers a safety car, and suddenly everyone is asking if there’s enough time to get back to racing. The commentators sound disappointed that the race might finish under a safety car. Same commentators as Abu Dhabi 2021. Same desire for “just one lap of racing.” The difference is that this time, Lewis benefits from it.
What really surprised me is that the pit lane stayed technically open while the safety car was out. No one pitted, but still. They were recovering the Toro Rosso using the gate connected to the pit lane. By today’s standards, that lane should have been closed immediately for marshal safety.
Also, a reminder for newer fans: podium interviews used to happen on the podium with all three drivers standing there together. We always see Max chatting away, and people act like he’s uniquely talkative. Lewis is also a yapper when he’s happy. Look at them. Just standing there, smiling, yapping. And when Lewis is on the top step and really feeling it, he does a little bunny hop during the anthem. It’s very endearing when you can see how thrilled drivers are. Like seeing a dog wag its tail when you call it "good boy".
Race Notes by Driver's Finishing Position:
P1 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - Fended off Nico Rosberg at the start and then controlled the race from the front. Once Nico boxed for the second time, Lewis immediately pushed to build a gap. Already playing mind games. He sounded a bit nervous when the safety car came out because Nico was able to catch back up, but he was absolutely delighted to finish under the safety car.
P2 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) - Was glued to Lewis for the first half of the race. Tried the undercut, but it didn’t work. Then got stuck in the classic Lewis move of backing him up toward Seb. Totally legal, totally effective, and Mercedes probably had a brief heart attack thinking about losing a 1-2 if Seb got past Nico.
P3 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) - Applied pressure to the Mercedes all race. Tried the undercut, didn’t work. Still walked away with a podium, which is never a bad day.
P4 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) - Pulled off several overtakes at the start, including both Williams. It felt like Kimi’s role was to support Seb without actually attacking him. Backup driver energy. Buddy cop vibes. Or maybe he just didn’t have the pace. Either way, I love Kimi complaining on the radio about blue flags for lapped cars, very Keke Rosberg. It always sounds like “you’re ruining my fun.” He also did a massive stint trying to catch Seb.
P5 Felipe Massa (Williams) - Basically ran his own race because he was nearly 30 seconds behind the top four. Smartly chose not to fight battles he couldn’t win. Kept his teammate behind the whole time. That’s called knowing your limits. Fighting Mercedes and Ferrari would have been bringing a knife to a gunfight.
P6 Valtteri Bottas (Williams) - Spent a large portion of the race fighting his own teammate. Awkward but effective.
P7 Romain Grosjean (Lotus) - Had a genuinely strong race. Pulled off some good overtakes and showed that Lotus was right at the top of the midfield.
P8 Felipe Nasr (Sauber) - Very clean, very calculated. Nothing flashy, no unnecessary risks. Did some nice overtakes though. For this race, he reminded me a lot of Nico Rosberg as a driver.
P9 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing) - Absolutely terrible start, down to 17th by the start of lap two, and still clawed his way into the points. Had a great overtake on Carlos. Tried to replicate Max’s move on Marcus and couldn’t quite pull it off, locked up and ran wide. Good attempt though. Eventually passed Marcus with a gorgeous inside move…then immediately went wide and gave the place back. Likely struggling with rear wing downforce or new brakes. Probably very frustrating. Finally got past Marcus for good on lap 43 with a brave inside move.
P10 Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) - Great start off the line. Did an excellent job defending against Max for a long time, and crucially didn’t hit him when Max shut the door aggressively. His battle with Daniel was fantastic. He defended well and took every opportunity he was given.
P11 Sergio Perez (Force India) - An absolute menace at race starts. Asserts his space and expects others to move. Honestly, respect. Gained four positions and had a good scrap with Max while running P8.
P12 Fernando Alonso (McLaren) - Finished a race in 2015. A historic moment. Otherwise barely appeared on the broadcast. This was before his second career as a DRS train conductor. Tried to hold up Kimi despite blue flags. Extremely spicy. I love it.
P13 Carlos Sainz Jr. (Toro Rosso) - Spun at the exact same spot he spun in practice, for consistency. Had a gearbox issue on lap 24 and became a moving chicane on the main straight. Still finished ahead of both Manors and a world champion, so technically a win.
P14 Jenson Button (McLaren) - At this point, I think Jenson just wanted to finish a race without retiring. Never stopped fighting. Still clearly had the fire in his soul. His collision with Pastor was surprising, but it opened the door for his teammate.
P15 Will Stevens (Manor) - Started a race. Finished a race. Car did not explode. Ten out of ten.
P16 Roberto Merhi (Manor) - These were not race cars. These were tractors. I genuinely think Roberto and Will could have gone faster on bicycles. Still, finishing in that thing must have taken emotional strength.
P17 Ret Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso) - Overtook Daniil on lap one in the chaos. Fought Marcus hard for P11. Made an aggressive inside move, shut the door, and trusted Marcus to back out. Didn’t lock up at the hairpin, which says everything about his control. Climbed to P8. Pulled off another outrageous inside overtake on Nasr on lap 19. Braking like it’s a casual Sunday drive. Reminder: he was 17 and didn’t even have a road license. Really showed that he is capable and confident as a late breaker. Brundle calling him a future champion and comparing him to Senna and Schumacher feels prophetic now: "That Verstappen boy will be in a world championship winning team before he's twenty…He's showing all the hallmarks of a Senna or a Schumacher". Yep, picking his moments perfectly and showing how good he is at overtaking on the inside without locking the tyres. Almost like he is drifting the rear of the car. This is why he skipped F2 and went straight into F1 as a teenager. Even though he didn't have spectacular results in the lower formulas, it was because of reliability issues with the car, not his skill. The way Brundle speaks about Max's skill just convinces me more and more that Max mind-melds with the cars he drives. He fully becomes one with the car through this "feel-factor". Another Renault engine failure leaves him parked on the main straight, triggering the safety car. He did well to stop it near the pit lane gate with zero runoff. Two DNFs in three races is not a great look, but the performance was unreal. Max showed how aggressive and fearless he is.
Ret Pastor Maldonado (Lotus) - Pulled off a great overtake on lap 3. Big spin on lap 41. Another nice overtake on Button on lap 47. Kept his cool while sandwiched between two world champions…until he didn’t. Then casually drove through the pit lane without stopping. Just passing through. Vibes.
Ret Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull Racing) - Made up spots, lost spots, then decided to fight team orders despite being on a different strategy to Daniel. Very on brand for Red Bull. Retired on lap 16 when the engine caught fire and gave up.
Ret Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) - First retirement of the race. Gearbox failure. Literally smoking.
It's winter break, so I'm rewatching a bunch of races. Here are some of my thoughts.
Qualifying Notes
• Toro Rosso rolled out the youngest driver lineup in F1 history with Max Verstappen (17) and Carlos Sainz Jr (20). Both from racing families, both babies by F1 standards, both dealing with the “Max is 17, is this legal” discourse. Neither had driven Albert Park, yet both cleared Q1 and Carlos casually dropped a Q2 lap good enough for Q3 on his first day of school.
• Manor’s software issues were so bad that they basically showed up just to say hi. They couldn’t run in practice, couldn’t qualify, couldn’t race. Poor Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi got the worst season debut imaginable: absolutely nothing.
• Ferrari paired Vettel and Raikkonen for a world champion duo aimed at annoying Mercedes. And launched one of the most popular F1 ships of all time.
• Alonso skipped this race thanks to his mystery testing crash. Magnussen stepped in. Button looked like a man who knew exactly what kind of season he was in for. Alonso’s ability to choose the wrong team at the wrong time remains undefeated.
Race Notes by Finishing Position
General Race Notes
• This was the smallest grid for a season opener since 1963. Manor didn’t make it, Bottas was benched by the FIA doctors, and both Kvyat and Magnussen broke down before even reaching the grid.
• Watching Valtteri get ruled out made me wonder if F1 needs a rule where you can sub in a reserve driver after qualifying but start from the pit lane. The car is ready, the driver is ready, just let someone race the thing.
• Fuel saving dominated the whole day. Reliability also decided to make a cameo. This race felt like a dress rehearsal that still had every tech issue possible.
• Tyre rules still forced two compounds and locked the top ten into their Q2 tyre choice. Pirelli was deep into intentional degradation.
P1 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
Drove his own race and didn’t flinch even with Rosberg hovering. Also his dash told him he was “negative on fuel” and Bono told him to “ignore the dash.” Sure, just ignore the car screaming at you. Mercedes really loved chaotic fuel management this era.
P2 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
Stayed within two seconds of Lewis to keep the pressure on and maybe chew Lewis’s tyres. Classic Nico.
P3 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
Strong debut for Ferrari. Happy Seb at Ferrari! Enjoy it while it lasts 😂
P4 Felipe Massa (Williams)
Solid finish despite the lap one chaos.
P5 Felipe Nasr (Sauber)
Great debut. Points for his first F1 GP! Rookie of the day.
P6 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
Already on his second engine because the first failed inspection before it even turned on. Renault reliability was a punchline. Defended hard against Massa before pitting on lap 24. Kept the position he set out to keep.
P7 Nico Hulkenberg (Force India)
Uneventful but effective. Double points for the team.
P8 Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
His fight with Carlos near the end was one of the few fun scraps. The tyres were melting and both just dealt with it.
P9 Carlos Sainz Jr (Toro Rosso)
Points in his debut despite a pit stop that lasted most of a lunch break.
P10 Sergio Perez (Force India)
Had a good scrap with Jenson on lap 13 until he spun.
P11 Jenson Button (McLaren)
Did what he could in a miserable car. Defended beautifully before the Perez collision.
P12 Ret Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
Slow stop on lap 17 because of wheel issues. Then a loose wheel ended his race. Wheels (general) remain Kimi’s mortal enemy. His battles with Max before retiring were respectful and entertaining. He also seems to be happy with Seb as his teammate, willing to back out of an overtake against Seb, and didn't blame him for the collision on lap 1. I really miss watching him race.
P13 Ret Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso)
Started P11, reached P6, then Renault struck again and his car exploded into a smoke show on lap 34. Dramatic retirement for a dramatic first race. His dad stormed off fuming which, looking back, explains plenty about Max’s emotional regulation at 17. Thankfully he’s mostly grown out of that.
P14 Ret Romain Grosjean (Lotus)
Lost power behind the safety car and had to retire. Shame, because he thought Lotus could deliver something here.
P15 Ret Pastor Maldonado (Lotus)
Taken out in the lap one mess. Classic.
DNS Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull)
Gearbox died on the way to the grid. Which doesn't bode well as his debut race for Red Bull. Bit ominous, he started how he ended with this team.
DNS Kevin Magnussen (McLaren)
Engine died on the way to the grid. The McLaren-Honda period was the definition of pain. No wonder Honda left F1 before joining red bull.
DNS Valtteri Bottas (Williams)
Sidelined after injuring his back in qualifying. Spent the night in the hospital and the FIA said absolutely not.
