The Formula 1 season kicks off in Bahrain in just under six hours, hype hype hype!

Hopefully, no matter for whom you cheer, we can all agree on two things:

• I hope it's a safe season with no injuries and nothing like Zhou's Silverstone shunt last year.
• Lance Stroll, regardless of how he finishes the race today, deserves our respect for qualifying 8th with a broken, splinted wrist full of fresh pins, less than two weeks post-surgery.

Sadly, this week's Chinese Grand Prix was cancelled this year, so it'll be two weeks before Formula 1 is back at Azerbaijan.

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My deliberately wrong prediction that LeClerc will win Bahrain is starting to look less crazy.

His first pole position for Carlos? Nice. Although I'm nominally cheering for Red Bull, seeing Carlos get his first win would be awesome, too. Or Lando or George get their first wins on their home track.

Safe money is on Verstappen to win, however, although I suspect Lewis will be on the podium.

Gonna be a good race.

Third race of the season, back in Melbourne for the first time since pre-covid.

Who will win? Has Mercedes un-shit their mess tin? Can Honey Badger podium as the only Australian on the grid? Can Red Bull win again? Can Ferrari keep up their streak? Can Bottas show Mercedes they did him a favor by firing him? Can Haas show they belong in the midfield and not the basement?

We'll have to wait and see. But it's gonna be lit.

The Spanish Grand Prix is happening in Barcelona this week. Although I'm cheering for the Red Bulls, my intuition says Ferrari is in for a good week.

Monaco next week, big hype!

Was that race insane or what?!

This week is the first-ever Miami Grand Prix. I won't be so arrogant as to make predictions; two weeks for Mercedes to unshit their mess tins and Red Bull to address reliability problems is a long time. And Ferrari is gonna Ferrari. It's a safe bet the race will surprise everyone.

However, I would love to see Magnusson on the podium. For the lone US team to get their first podium at a US race would be heckin cool.

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The race was almost exciting for all the wrong reasons.

Esteban Ocon had to come in for tires on the penultimate lap, and some galaxy brain had let the photographers loose into the pit lane:

Very lucky Ocon was already on the brakes, especially given the awful visibility around the chicane.

Putting this here so you can tell me how wrong I was at the end of the season:

1. Red Bull
2. Ferrari
3. Mercedes
4. McLaren
5. Alpine
6. AlphaTauri
7. Haas
8. Aston Martin
9. Alfa Romeo
10. Williams (RIP)

So, last week was something else, huh?

I felt bad for Charles but Red Bull definitely earned their win, and, as Max once said, "Checo is a legend."

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And not merely race week, but sprint week!

I was sick with some sort of nasty vacation-acquired summer cold — still not quite well — so I didn't comment much Sunday or yesterday, but the Barcelona Formula 1 Grand Prix was a fun race. Verstappen (MAX MAX SUPER MAX) leapt out to an immediate lead and earned the third Grand Slam (pole position, lead every lap, fastest lap of the race, win) of his career. This was unsurprising, since he's the best driver in the sport today and the Red Bull is the best car.

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This is going to be an exciting Formula One season!

First, I'm pleased to see the Russian Grand Prix cancelled. Big respect for Seb and Max for coming out against the race early, and to the FIA and the teams for cancelling. My only wish is that they'd made it clear the race was cancelled, not just cancelled under "current circumstances." 🇺🇦

Second, Long story short, the regulations are all new so the cars are all new. It's going to be exciting.

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This week is Monza, "The Temple of Speed" and Ferrari's home track. We can expect the tifosi (Italian Ferrari stans) to be out in force.

I predict pain for them.

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Hungaroring this weekend! My bois at Red Bull had some real problems in qualifying and are starting in the middle of the grid. This track is no good for passing, so I'm not feeling optimistic about today. The main reason to watch the race will be to see how (not if, how) Ferrari shoots themselves in the feet.

If I'm hoping for anything (and excluding a Verstappen win as unrealistic), it would be to see Norris take his Papaya to his first win.

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• Imola is Italian soil. Although Monza is considered Ferrari's home race, the Scuderia is still going to be out for blood.
• Redbull clearly has the pace to podium at will, but they're suffering mechanical casualties. Can they make it to the finish line this week?
• the sprint race on Saturday should be good. Hamilton seems to have a gift for these.
• Speaking of, have Mercedes found some more speed?

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Today marks the halfway point of the Formula 1 season.

Let's compare the present situation to my pre-season predictions:

1. Red Bull (my prediction: 1)
2. Ferrari (my prediction: 2)
3. Mercedes (my prediction: 3)
4. McLaren (my prediction: 4)
5. Alpine (my prediction: 5)
6. Alfa Romeo (my prediction: 9)
7. Haas (my prediction: 7)
8. Alpha Tauri (my prediction: 6)

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And with that, the Formula 1 season is over. Let's compare the actual standings to my pre-season predictions:

Actual Standing (my prediction)

1. Red Bull Racing (My prediction: 1)
2. Scuderia Ferrari (My prediction: 2)
3. Mercedes (My prediction: 3)
4. Alpine (My prediction: 5)
5. McLaren (My prediction: 4)
6. Alfa Romeo (My prediction: 9)
7. Aston Martin (My prediction: 8)

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Questions I am eager to find the answers to:

• Has Red Bull 🇦🇹sorted their reliability problems?
• Can Ferrari 🇮🇹outpace Red Bull on a street track?
• Has Mercedes🇩🇪 found some more pace?
• Will Haas🇺🇸 stay in the midfield or shit their mess tins?
• Can McLaren🇬🇧 get back into the midfield?
• Can Zhou 🇨🇳score points again?

Sad to see Seb Vettel still covid+. Hope he recovers without long-term issues.