After 3 years of Mercedes domination, the game is well and truly on! Vettel and Ferrari both take over the lead in the Driver's and Constructor's championship respectively.
Ferrari strategy on point once again, Mercedes slacking
Known for their lackadaisical strategy calls last year, Ferrari have completely turned things around. Once again, like they were in Australia, the strategy was sharp and perfect. Meanwhile, Mercedes were caught off dozing once again. Not bad, but just not good enough to compete at the highest level of motorsport.
The first undercut was bold and timed to perfection. It was so effective that it brought Vettel out even despite the Safety Car. From then, the second stop was timed correctly, just at the point Lewis was starting to close back up.
Sure, Lewis did have the pace advantage at the end due to the late stop, but it was never ideal. You could be rest assured Vettel was cruising - saving his machinery for later in the season, while Hamilton was pushing flat out.
Bottas well off the pace
He nearly pulled off an absolutely stunning overtake on Vettel after the restart around Turns 3 and 4, but apart from that, it was pretty clear Bottas was well off the pace today. Doesn't seem like it's his fault - something just didn't work with the tyre pressure compressors. That left him overpressured and oversteering throughout the race. Nevertheless, he did a fine job keeping it altogether. And let's not forget his pole position yesterday. Not a perfect lap, but top notch stuff.
British media and fanboys continue be Hamilton apologists
When will these guys realise being "pundits" and "commentators" necessitates being neutral? Yesterday, they were making silly excuses like "Oh, Lewis didn't get the perfect lap together or he would have easily beat Bottas". It's the pinnacle of motorsport - you can't afford to make mistakes. It was his mistake to make, and Valtteri did a better job. Give the man some credit!
And today, "Oh, the penalty was too harsh". No, no - it wasn't. It's a very clear breach of the rules. "If he hadn't got the penalty, he would have won". No, he wouldn't. Vettel was well in control. "If he was on pole he would have won" - Well, he wasn't, because his lap wasn't good enough.
Ah, and this one's the best - "Do you think Bottas can beat Hamilton or will he just do another Rosberg?". Huh, what? Rosberg is the defending world champion, not Hamilton.
Come on, it's just a sport, get some objectivity.
Red Bull not quite there
It was Red Bull that was destined to challenge Mercedes this year. But they were clearly slower than the Mercs and Ferraris. Max going out with a brake failure, and Daniel never quite having the pace to match even Kimi's slower Ferrari. We have heard of a correlation problem between wind tunnel and track. When will they turn it around? Clearly, they have the most talented designers in Formula 1.
Perez - driver of the day
That was a pretty stunning drive from Sergio Perez. Not sure what he did during the Safety Car, but he wrestled P7 and never let go. Massa once again proved to be best of the rest, while Stroll was once again taken out from another car. Poor lad, at this rate he'll never regain his confidence.
Meanwhile, Alonso drove another spectacular race despite being in the slowest car on the circuit. That man clearly has got the drive - brilliant overtakes throughout. It was a pretty exciting race down the field - a lot of overtaking. Speaking of which, remember how the new cars were supposed to make overtaking impossible? Nope, that's clearly not happened. That said, it can be improved dramatically by limiting aerodynamics so it doesn't have a massive effect on the following car.
Ferrari's incredible celebrations, Raikkonen in trouble
Holy hell, do the ragazzi from Maranello know how to celebrate! Their utter passion is just so obvious - this might be the most dedicated sports team in all of sport. Oh, and let's not forget the tifosi! But more pleasing to me was to see Vettel really enjoying it. He has been a pretty annoying "grumpy uncle" for the last couple of years. His Red Bull days marked him as an overly arrogant, spoiled child. But I like the new Vettel! He seems to be having a lot of fun, and completely sincere throughout.
Poor Kimi though, he just doesn't seem comfortable. Given they are fighting for the championship, Ferrari might do a Helmut Marko and replace him mid-season. I would get Nico Hulkenberg, probably the best driver out of the top 3 teams right now. OK, that's Alonso, but no idea what he's upto... Let's see.
Lastly, these 2017 cars are incredible. Truly the pinnacle of engineering.
All images from Formula1.com