Christian Horner said there were 50+ cuts in Max' front tyre - so they did the right thing to change it.
I think we got a sense of the never-ending midfield battle - it was properly close racing from 5th-11/12th. And nice work by Haas to throw Grosjean long; they had nothing to lose. One more safety car for hime to change, late enough that everyone else changed too, and he might have grabbed a point or two.
Alex Albon still has to learn to pick his battles, and back off out of a pass so that he finishes races; he's clearly got the talent, and the car. It's his first full season, and historically Red Bull will encourage him to race - but in time they'll want to be running a two car team, and he will need to figure out how to run cleanly as well as quickly.
It was good to see McLaren bringing aero parts to test, and leaving them on the car; that suggests they've got good correlation between CFD, wind tunnel and track. The extra power from a Merc engine should see them up behind the top three, instead of leading the midfield. So still 4th!
More work to do :-)
& Lando's helmet!
You have to wonder what's going on in the background at Haas though; is the team on the point of pulling out? Both drivers have always raced hard, but now they're over the edge. It's as if there's some real pressure on them. For sure the team needs to change at least one of its drivers next year - maybe Perez coming in with cash will be enough to keep the team afloat until Ferrari can fix their engine in '22
I think we saw the real value of Perez in the way Stroll couldn't keep his car at the front; I suspect that the more experienced driver's setup helps Stroll's race setup. Maybe he gives advice too. I don't doubt the team is a more confident place when it's not relying on Stroll to lead it. (Which is only an observation - he doesn't have the natural talent of say Leclerc, who can shape up to a multiple world champion and lead the team.
Nobody's going to catch Mercedes this year -they were the best part of a second faster than last year. Red Bull about the same, Ferrari are missing .25 seconds worth of donkeys.
