As the tastefully diffused for maximum visibility but pitiless and relentless LEDs glinted off the stark and spotless Epoxy of Maranello, Scuderia Marlboro was worried.
Manufacturers’ Standings
| Rank | Team | Points |
| 1 | Mercedes | 257 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 139 |
| 3 | Red Bull Racing Honda | 110 |
| 4 | McLaren Renault | 30 |
| 5 | Racing Point BWT Mercedes | 17 |
| 6 | Haas Ferrari | 16 |
| 7 | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 16 |
| 8 | Renault | 14 |
| 9 | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 13 |
Of the 6 races of 21 total this season they have wone exactly…
None.
Drivers’ Standings
| Rank | Driver | Team | Points | Rank | Driver | Team | Points |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 137 | 2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 120 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 82 | 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda | 78 |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 57 | 6 | Pierre Gasly | Red Bull Racing Honda | 32 |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz | McLaren Renault | 18 | 8 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 14 |
| 9 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point BWT Mercedes | 13 | 10 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 13 |
| 11 | Lando Norris | McLaren Renault | 12 | 12 | Daniil Kvyat | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 9 |
| 13 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 8 | 14 | Alexander Albon | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 7 |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 6 | 16 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point BWT Mercedes | 4 |
| 17 | Romain Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | 2 |
Before yesterday they only had one Pole, LeClerc. Now they have Vettel.
It is Race 7 of 21.
Starting Grid
| Grid | Driver | Team | Time | Grid | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:10.240 | 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:10.446 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:10.920 | 4 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1:11.071 |
| 5 | Pierre Gasly | Red Bull Racing Honda | 1:11.079 | 6 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:11.101 |
| 7 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:11.324 | 8 | Lando Norris | McLaren Renault | 1:11.863 |
| 9 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda | 1:11.800 | 10 | Daniil Kvyat | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 1:11.921 |
| 11 | Carlos Sainz | McLaren Renault | 1:13.981 | 12 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 1:12.136 |
| 13 | Alexander Albon | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 1:12.193 | 14 | Romain Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | |
| 15 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point BWT Mercedes | 1:12.197 | 16 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 1:12.230 |
| 17 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point BWT Mercedes | 1:12.266 | 18 | George Russell | Williams Mercedes | 1:13.617 |
| 19 | Robert Kubica | Williams Mercedes | 1:14.393 |
Sainz takes a three places hit for impeding. Magnussen starts from the Pits following a change of chassis after qualifying.
The Scuderia could and should take this one maybe. There’s no question they need to. Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve is well suited to Maranello’s supposed strengths with a long front and back straights on which they can show off that Barcelona Engine Power. Meanwhile Mercedes is finally rolling out their first set of upgrades. Why fix what ain’t broke? Hamilton wasn’t far off Vettel’s pace and it was do to a driving error (to the extent sub-optimal performance is an error). Over the course of the race the advantage might easily disappear.
Pirelli is bringing the 3 softest compounds it has- C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium), and C5 (Soft). They’ll go off much faster than in Monaco because the speeds are higher and the track is blazing hot.
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