Lando Nozzer notes that the start’s a bit narrow, which should make things more difficult, but he’s not too bothered as there aren’t many in front of him. Told he’s in the British quarter, he makes clear that he’s in front.
Marco Materazzi is track-side, responding with all the joy you’d expect when baited about Italy’s World Cup absence.
It’s really windy out there, which will increase the intensity of the slipstreams. But it’s not raining as feared.
“The problem is when you push that car a little bit more she is quite spiteful. She is like a viper or like a rattlesnake, you never know.”
Mercedes, and Lewis Hamilton, have a problem.
The grid
1 Leclerc (Ferrari)
2 Verstappen (Red Bull)
3 Pérez (Red Bull)
4 Norris (McLaren)
5 Hamilton (Mercedes)
6 Russell (Mercedes)
7 Ricciardo (McLaren)
8 Ocon (Alpine)
9 Sainz Jr (Ferrari)
10 Alonso (Alpine)
11 Gasly (Alpha Tauri)
12 Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
13 Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
14 Zhou (Alfa Romeo)
15 Schumacher (Haas)
16 Magnussen (Haas)
17 Vettel (Aston Martin)
18 Latifi (Williams)
19 Stroll (Aston Martin)
20 Albon (Williams)
Preamble
It’s become fashionable to speak about things in superlatives and absolutes – things can’t just be good or bad, they have to be the best or the worst, putative facts announced in purple prose of the sort you’ve just read. But we can all agree that, without doubt, F1 is the weirdest sport in the world, as illustrated by the end of last season and the beginning of this.
Consequently, it’s not at all easy to get a read on what we’re about to see. The best driver might win, the best car might win, or someone at the back might crash, leading to a concertinaed field and a last-lap free-for-all because our tiny minds can only cope with things that are neatly packaged. Sorry, the most neatly packaged things of all-time, in the world … ever!
Anyhow, today’s race and possibly the next few represent a chance for drivers not named Lewis or Max. Between them, Hamilton and Verstappen won 15 of last season’s 22 races, but things might just be different this, their cars not yet up to that kind of standard. As such, Messrs Leclerc, Pérez and Sainz Jr have the opportunity to do damage – damage of the sort they can’t have anticipated – and they’ll fancy their chances here too. This should be a goodun.
Lights out: 3pm local, 6am BST