Lando Oscar and Max. No one had anticipated that the F1 Championship will go down to the last race, that too with Max in the mix. This is similar to 2021 season when we saw a generational fight between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Both were on the exact same points as we headed for the final race in Abu Dhabi. The way race ended is literally stuff of the lore and a pivotal moment in Formula 1. This time though things are a bit different. McLaren had the best car for most of the season. They closed the Constructor’s Championship by Singapore. It was assumed that the title fight will be between the two McLaren drivers – Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. However, Max made an entry in the fore and is not willing to give up the No. 1 badge that easily. 

The season started with Lando gaining an upper hand. He is the more experienced driver and is expected to make the most of the best car on the grid. However he started to fumble as the season progressed. Moreover the cool and calm Aussie Oscar Piastri started making inroads. His calm demeanor ensured that he kept winning races as Lando fumbled at critical points. The turning point though came in Monza and Baku. Oscar had to give up the race position to Lando as Lando had a slow pitstop. This is not as per the so-called ‘papaya rules’ but he still relented. Then in Baku he had a bad weekend where he literally crashed his car in frustration. This set a chain of reaction and he literally was not even on the podium until Qatar. 

All this while Max was making the most of the situation. Even when he was not winning races, as he did not have the best car, he either on the podium or there at the top. Any mistake made by the McLaren drivers and Max was there to pounce on the opportunity and grab the maximum points. The upgrades later in the season also worked wonders and while he still doesn’t have an outright best car, he can fight with the McLarens. 

Still the gap between Max and the McLaren drivers was too much to cover by the middle of the season. A 104 points to leader Oscar was too much. However things started to turn. Max kept chipping on the points and slowly closed the gap. This gap reduced drastically in Vegas as both the McLarens were disqualified due to plank issue while Max won the race. A humongous error in strategy at Qatar ensured that Max won the race despite not having the best car and left Oscar very angry as he had finally found his mojo. 

So now there is only a 12 points gap between Max and Lando, with Oscar now in 3rd poisition, 4 points from Max. If things went smoothly then Lando will win the Championship. However with Max in the mix anything is possible. He had a cool mindset but also aggressive to push to the limit. 

Can’t wait for the final race of the season. 

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Oscar Piastri wins the wet race in SPA Francorchamps as Lando finished P2. Charles LeClerc got a distant P3.

Oscar Magic in SPA

Starting from P2, Oscar quickly got ahead of Lando as he got a good start at turn 1 and then the slipstream effect was so solid that he streamed past Lando at the end of Kimmel straight. From then onward there was no looking back. The start was delayed due to rains. After an hour the race started behind the Safety Car and then it was a rolling start. Once Oscar got ahead he also got the pit-stop priority and pitted at the right moment to switch from Inters to Slicks. Lando pitted the next lap but smartly went for Hards instead of Mediums which most of the field had, including Oscar.

It seemed at that moment that Lando had the upper hand. However Oscar managed the pace well and the kept the tires alive right till the end. Lando also made a few mistakes in between which caused some lockup and they were costly. The gap between the two title rivals is just 16 points and the season is long. No one has an upper hand as such. The title fight will go down the wire.

Ferrari positive at SPA

Overall Ferrari would be happy with the outcome at SPA. They brought the upgrades and it looks like they work. Charles put in a great lap in Quali to secure P3. In the entire race he had Max right behind and that must have been frustrating. However the managed the pace well to finish on the final step of the podium.

Lewis had a bad Quali as he was eliminated in Q1 due to track infringement. However he made the most of the wet race and quickly gained places to finish P7. This is not the way he would have liked the weekend to go but it is what it is.

Max lacking pace at SPA

Max did well in the Sprint to start from P2 and winning the Sprint race. However that pace was missing in the race. He was starting P4 in the main race but could not move ahead much. The fight for the title seems to be diminishing with every race. The fact that Christian Horner has been dismissed from Red Bull must be playing heavily on the team too. Yuki Tsunoda had a decent Quali as he finished in top 10. However he lost the advantage in the race and was out of the points.

George Russell did a decent job to finish in P5 as his rookie team-mate struggled. Albon finished a sweet P6 and must be happy with. Liam Lawson must be glad to finish in points at P8 and so did Gabriel Bortoleto at P9. Gasly got the final point at P10.

SPA RACE CLASSIFICATION : OSCAR leads

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Piastri wins the China GP as Lando came second. George was P3 and both the Ferraris were disqualified.

Piastri dominance in China

Oscar Piastri took the Pole position in China. He was the first one at the first turn as the race started. From then on there was no looking back. He managed the pace well and brought the car home. Lando started from P3 and was able to overtake George soon enough to take on the P2 position and held on to it. McLaren is the fastest car overall but it is not without some issues. The car is on the knife’s edge when pushing and it can snap at times. This is the reason why the McLarens did not do particularly well in the Sprints as Lando botched the qualifying and was then stuck behind other cars. Still the Papaya team would be very happy with their performance in China. They are the most dominant team as of now with two really good drivers.

Ferrari fumble in China

Lewis Hamilton got the full Ferrari experience in China this weekend. He pushed the car and got Pole in the Sprints. Then we saw vintage Hamilton as he got the start right, kept the lead and won the Sprint – his first win for Ferrari. Then the pace was nowhere to be found in Race Quali and the actual Race. To add salt to the would both the Ferraris got disqualified. Lewis for too much wear at the bottom and Charles for the car being under-weight. Ferrari may have the best driver lineup but they need to work hard to get some pace in that SF-25. Also such mistakes are too costly and not expected from a team like Ferrari.

Red Bull dissonance

The nightmare for Liam Lawson continued in China. He had a pathetic Sprint session and a pathetic Quali session too as he qualified plum last at P20. This is certainly expected from a team which has the current Driver Champion and looking to fight for the Constructor’s Championship. Liam finished outside of points and would be very very disappointed with himself. He is hanging by a thin wire and it will not be surprising if Red Bull makes some changes in their driver lineup soon. Max did a decent job with his Red Bull which is clearly not the fastest car around. He managed to finish P4 and should be happy with the result.

Mercedes march in China

Mercedes have put a happy face but overall they should be disappointed. They are nowhere close to match the pace of McLarens. George is doing a job of picking up the pieces as he got on the podium in both the race. Kimi finished an average P6. The car shows signs of pace at times but it is just not consistent. Constructors is out of reach for now. At least Kimi is doing a decent job and George is pushing as much as possible.

HAAS would be one team very happy with the result. They looked pathetic in the practice sessions but seems to have bounced back. Both the HAAS finished in points with Ocon in P5 and Bearman P8. Even the Williams finished in points – Albon P7 and Carlos P10. Lance got P9 as Alonso had to retire due to brake heating issues.

China GP Top 10 : Piastri wins

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Oscar won the Azerbaijan race as he made a stunning overtake on Charles, who finished P2. George finished P3 as Checo and Carlos collided.

Oscar worthy at Azerbaijan

Starting from P2 Oscar settled in nicely after the race start in his position. However he had no intention on being in that position for long. After a change of tyres from Medium to Hards, Oscar went for the plunge and made in stick, a stunning overtake. This was very similar to the one he pulled off in Monza on team-mate Lando Norris. Charles was caught completely by surprise as he did not anticipate Oscar going for the dive. Piastri did not have many opportunities and he had to go for it early in the stint if he fancied winning the race. Staying close behind Charles in P2 for too long meant facing the dirty air and higher degradation of tires. Charles tried a lot of overtake Oscar again but he was never close enough to go for the plunge. It was a hard fought victory for Oscar, the second one in his F1 career.

Lando who still has an outside chance to fight Max for the Championship had a disaster in the qualifying. A freak yellow flag meant he had to abandon his lap and ended up starting the race at P15. In the race he managed to stay of our trouble and kept chipping at others to eventually finish P4, which is very respectable. He also got the fastest lap. Most importantly McLaren are now ahead of the Red Bulls in the Championship by 20 points. This is the first time they are Championship leaders in more than a decade. They need to keep the momentum going.

Missed chance for Ferrari in Azerbaijan

Race day went bad for Ferrari. Qualifying was good as Charles took the pole and Carlos P3. However Charles lost out to Oscar and had to settle for P2. Carlos lost to Checo at race start and was in P4 for most of the race. However in the penultimate lap Carlos went after Perez and in this they both crashed into each other and this end their race. Ferrari would be bitterly disappointed with the result as this was a good point scoring opportunity.

Red Bull on back foot at Azerbaijan

This was the first time in recent times that Checo was actually looking better than Championship leader Max Verstappen. He started the race P4 and Max P6. However he overtook Carlos at start and was comfortable in P3 position. In the end Checo went for Charles and Carlos went after Checo. In all of this Carlos and Checo ended up crashing. Checo would be very disappointed with this as it was his moment to shine. Max did not have a great day either and he finished P5. Red Bull have lost the Championship lead and they will have to work hard the rest of the reason.

As the crash took out Carlos and Checo, George filled in the final podium position. Lewis however was starting from behind due to engine penalty and was stuck in traffic. Alonso got the P6 position and Albon P7. Rookie Colapinto got P8 in his second F1 race while Bearman got the final point.

Azerbaijan Race Classification : Oscar wins!

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