Berlin ePrix
First off, the Berlin Tempelhof Airport makes for a sensational venue for a motor race! They have carved a pretty cool circuit out of it too, particularly the endlessly looping turn 1 followed by the tunnel. The hot concrete surface makes for a unique challenge too, and it seems to have shaken things up already.
Being the first double header of the season, this was always going to be a dramatic weekend for the championship. Mahindra Racing pretty much nailed their setup and were dominant throughout the weekend.
If it wasn't for two bits of misfortune, they could have finished with a double podium and double win. Rosenqvist was hot on di Grassi's tail throughout the first stint, and pretty much forced the di Grassi's tyres to give up. As he started locking up towards the end, trying to save energy, Rosenqvist made the decisive move. Once in front, he was just in such rhythm, di Grassi had no chance. Heidfeld finished with a strong podium as well. Sweden and India - that's a combination of national anthems you'd never have heard in a motorsport event!
For the Sunday race, Heidfeld was well within a chance of a pole. The Mahindra got even better! Sadly, his throttle jammed at exactly the worst moment, and he ended up on the back of the grid. Rosenqvist stamped his authority, following up his win with a pole!
He led from start to finish - it was pretty much the perfect race, and it could have been the perfect weekend with 2 wins! Yet, just as Mahindra was achieving close to perfection, they totally bungled the pitstops with both Heidfeld and Rosenqvist coming in at the same time. It was probably too harsh a penalty for Felix - gotta feel for him. He was perfect, didn't put a foot wrong the entire weekend! Still, a win and second place isn't too bad.
After a disastrous Saturday, Buemi ended up with a win. The championship race is still on, but Buemi has effectively regained control on Sunday.
Canadian GP Qualifying
What a topsy turvy season this has been! Looking at the last 4 races - Hamilton has been poor in Russia, brilliant in Spain, poor in Monaco, and now brilliant in Canada. That lap at the end was absolutely incredible. Barring a very slight lock-up at the hairpin, that's probably the best lap we have seen since Rosberg in Singapore last year.
Vettel pushed him all the way there, but in the end tried too hard. He had to give it his very best shot, take every millimeter of risk. Ferrari's race pace looks good, it'll be an interesting battle!
Liberty Media is doing a fantastic job in evolving the sport's spectacle. The moment where Lewis was presented Ayrton Senna's helmet was truly memorable. They chose the perfect venue too, right in front of Turn 2! This is the kind of stuff that great entertainment is made of!
You could see how much it meant to Lewis, he couldn't get his hands off it - carrying it all the way to the press conference and beyond. Indeed, he called it a more prized possession than even his Formula 1 champion's trophy! Too bad it turned out to be a replica :) Though the real one's waiting for him.
And then there was the return of the raft race. That was a great deal of fun! Keep it up Liberty.
The race
Well, well, just when it was looking like Ferrari were firmly in the driver's seet, Mercedes bounce back in dominant fashion. Their first 1-2 of the season, and they were never challenged at all.
Incredible start by Verstappen! Where did the lad come from?
Too bad that took out Vettel's front wing and pretty much spoiled his race. Great recovery drive up to 4th, but could easily have been 3rd if Ferrari had pitted in earlier for the last set of ultrasofts. They left out Vettel for far too long - it was never going to be a 1 stop!
Alonso simply can't catch a break! Raikkonen and Verstappen fell foul of technical troubles too. Interestingly, Kimi's failure was the same ERS failure as Mercedes' famous incident back in 2014. I suppose this circuit is particularly hard on the MGU-K units.
The story of the race, though, has to be the Force India. Once again, they continue to outperform their resources by a long shot! Though not as successful as their compatriot Formula E counterparts, Force India were in with a strong chance of the podium. Brilliant, brilliant drive by Ocon - I hope he gets a seat in a top team in the future.
I suppose you can't blame Perez, we have seen such antics pulled off by the likes of Hamilton and Vettel before. It's this kind of extreme arrogance and selfishness that makes them winning drivers. At the same time, that was just silly. Instead of finishing 3rd and 4th or 5th, they ended up 5th and 6th. Still a great result for the team, but could have been much better. The moment Vettel, Perez and Ocon almost went three wide - heart-stopping stuff!
We leave Canada with Lewis having cut Vettel's championship lead in half, and Mercedes overtaking Ferrari in the constructor's championship. Game on! Onwards to Baku.
All images courtesy of FIA.