First F1 race of the year was terrible, second race pretty good

[crosscourt]

Vettel,Bottas and Verstappen with Hamilton 4th. Given this course I doubt that will hold true in the actual race. If Hamilton screws up the championship could get more interesting. Race is on tomorrow at 1:30PM EST on ABC.

[tlmiller]

Yeah, very odd qualifying with Hamilton, who has dominated this race in the last 1/2 dozen years, never REALLY getting a completely perfect lap. He made mistakes every single hot run, and not just in Q3, but q2 as well. Should be interesting to see if for no other reason than the Red Bulls are going to want to get a MOVE on it to take advantage of the hypersoft tires. Can Verstappen get around the Vettel & Bottas off the start without crashing into one of them? With how off the pace he's been, will Riccardio worry Hamilton at the start? I look forward to it.

[crosscourt]

Given Verstappens practice sessions, Im going to guess in race trim he will be able to compete with the otgher two very well. Hamilton will improve but enough to be a factor? Riccardo is using a used part to avoid the grid penalty so will he have problems?

[tlmiller]

Given all the possible scenarios, I think we got the worst possible one in the race. While there's still 20 laps left as I type this, it's been BOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG....

[tlmiller]

Race over. Even with 3 DRS zones, completely boring and parade-like race.

[crosscourt]

Agree, it was a boring race.

[crosscourt]

Qualifying in France and Hamilton got the pole, Bottas than Vettel, Verstappen 4th. LeClerc with Sauber ended up 8th which is amazing and hes quickly becoming one of my favorite drivers. McLaren was miserable in 15-16.

[tlmiller]

The margins in qualifying make it look like this will be a race I'll skip watching. Just doesn't look like it's going to be anywhere CLOSE between the top teams. Mercedes is going to run away with it, and Ferrari (Vettel) will be comfortably behind them without too much pressure from Red Bull. Definitely appears from the practice sessions and qualifying that this is going to be one of the more boring races of the year, which is not a good omen.

[crosscourt]

The problem with this race will be the track itself, as many havent driven on it much before and are making bad choices causing issues. Tire choices will be another issue but getting off the track can cause instant suspension issues so, its going to be a fun ride. All races are worth watching but youre level of enjoyment will vary.

[tlmiller]

All races are worth watching but youre level of enjoyment will vary.

I definitely disagree with that. Monaco wasn't worth watching. It was horrible. It was worse than baseball.