Going with a different pit strategy and having Hamilton run down Verstappen was another great strategy call on the Mercedes pit wall. There was really nothing RB could do at that point. Lewis was again locked in and went to work for a hard fought and well deserved win. He gotta work on those starts, though

Max had another lightning start, and survived the restart, but he never was really able to shake Hamilton in the early stint. I wonder if RB would think of hiring some of Petronas' strategists, as they seemed totally unprepared for the change in Mercedes' strategy. Then again, with Bottas hovering between P3 and P4 and Perez not up in the fight, it was probably damage limitation for RB. P2 is better than P3, especially when the points and cars are this close.

For anybody saying it's all about the car, not the driver, look no further than Bottas. The 3 podium drivers pulled out from the pack early and easy, but it was Lewis that was running down Max, while Bottas has trouble fighting back from Leclerc. Who knows, maybe he's still a little spooked from wiping out with Russell. Mildly disappointing on one hand. On the other hand, he's doing just what Mercedes needs him to do for the constructors and could still end up 2nd in the drivers (he's back in 3rd place now even with his DNF). Everybody wants to be the man, but being that well paid to play number 2 isn't a bad gig...

Quick thoughts
- Good result for Danny R with 6th. Maybe he'll get along with the McLaren quicker than his Renault days. Their car doesn't look slow...
- I need to check what happened to Perez. Not sure why he started 8. Good to get back to 5th, but not really helpful in the constructors points either. That RB is faster than the Ferrari, but he was 9s off Leclerc at the end. Go figure
- Good for Gasley getting a point even with a 5 sec penalty. Plucky lad, that one is
- Russell was in contention for his first points for Williams, but yet again, it was not to be. One day, George, one day
- Did Haas field a F2 car this season? Both drivers were 2 laps down. That's pretty bad, especially for a team that was in play for the midfield a few short years ago (though that may have been down to the 'stroker' engine Ferrari was running). Bring on '22?