#and yeah the job at alpha tauri is going to be a tough one

[rickybaby]

How Daniel Ricciardo's AlphaTauri return happened and what it means for Sergio Perez

[toxinwing]

Well, that was a pretty darn good race! And I’m not just saying that because of one driver in particular got on the podium. ...Honest. :P

So then, congrats to the podium finishers, Lewis, Max, and Nando! Lewis kept his head down and the team responded well to Red Bull’s pitstops. Max made his way up after getting that grid penalty pretty well. And Nando! Just...Nando! Podium! This will be all I’ll think about for the next week, lemme tell ya! Yeah!

...Ahem, right. Well done to the rest of the top ten finishers, too! Checo was close to catching Nando and made so many passes this race. Like, dang. Esteban did his best to defend from Checo, “like a lion” as Nando said and, even though Checo got past, he still got Alpine some good points! Lance, Carlos, and Charles all had some battles in there, as did Lando, though he also had that late pitstop after a puncture. And finally Seb finishes up the top ten, getting a point after a real rough start, so good on him!

And good job to the rest of the race finishers as well! In order they are Pierre, Dan, Yuki, Kimi, Antonio, Mick, George, and Mazepin. Tough race for Pierre, after starting so far up, and same goes for Yuki. Tough race for Alpha Tauri in general really, especially when they looked real strong through the weekend. And George got hit with one of the multiple punctures the occurred, causing him to fall back.

Speaking of punctures, here’s hoping for more luck to those who didn’t get to see the checkered flag. Both Val and Nicholas had their races end early due to punctures, Val’s occurring earlier and having to retire after the team determined he was carrying too much damage from that and Nicholas having to pull over to the side of the track as he couldn’t make it back to the pits. Yeah, here’s hoping the track and kerbs are less rough come next race.

The next race, by the by, will be in Saudi Arabia, Jeddah specifically, in two weeks’ time. Yeah, the triple header is done and we only have two more races to go! And, dang, this championship race is kinda getting down to the wire. Max ahead in the standings, but only by 8 points. At this point, it’s anyone’s guess who will come out world champion. Pretty exciting, gotta say.

So then, that’s my liveblogging done for today. I’ll be back for the next race. For now, I'm gonna celebrate Nando’s podium with some food and maybe a nap ‘cause those last laps had me tensed up. So, until next time, have a lovely rest of your day! Later!