As the PR teams got their origami papers in place, we made our way to the first leg of a promising triple header (or at least we hope so) into the land ripe with pink cherry blossoms and stereotypical gimmicks for marketing- Japan. Media teams were up and running from the very dawn of Thursday as Yuki Tsunoda would make his way into the paddock for the first time as a Red Bull driver and, on the other hand, Liam making his way as a Racing Bulls driver. The free practice sessions before the qualifying felt almost akin to our past relationships, owing to the number of red flags waived across the three sessions. From Jack Doohan trying to set the ultimate track record by taking the turn 1 with DRS on and crashing horribly (Franco smiling in the corner) to sparks causing fires all around, the weekend start couldn’t have been any more chaotic. Little did we know that this would be the highlight of the weekend. (Spoiler Alert!).

As the light turned green at the end of the ptilane, drivers were eager to put a representative lap on the board as fires can bring the session to a halt at any time during the session (unfortunately, we are still not equipped to race through the that). We got to know that VCARB were running a seat situation similar to a local bus as Hadjar seemed ever vocal about his discomfort with the seatbelts, hindering his focus over a lap. McLaren seemed top of the pack again with a three-way battle between George, Max and Charles for P3. Something magical happened in Q3 as Max Verstappen put down a lap for ages to clinch the Pole away from both the McLarens. Max himself couldn’t help but b vocal about his emotions as he completed a lap appropriately labelled by his engineer GP as ‘insanity’. McLaren boys locked out P2 and P3, determined to combat Max around turn 1.

That’s it? That’s all that happened in the race?

We couldn’t start the highlight of the feature race any other way but by resonating the feeling Oscar put into words with such beauty. With a compromised FP2 where the teams test their long runs and Max starting ahead of the two McLarens, the race was poised for an amazing lap 1 drama, but oh boy, could we have been further from the truth! Contrary to our expectations from Stroll and pack, it was a rather well-behaved lap 1 with everyone retaining their qualifying order.

The pit strategy seemed the only hope for this Monaco 2.0 of a race. It did prove substantial in giving us the only action out of the race as Max and Lando battled coming out of the pitlane after boxing at the same time. Max got the better exit and retained the position with everyone else behind in almost the very order established on Saturday. Lando seemed a bit closer around the last 10 laps, but the dirty air made it impossible to overtake. Max collected the chequered flag making this weekend another one of his masterclass.

The best part of a triple header has to be the fact that you get to continue your momentum and build over your great results from the previous GP contest to win big in the following one. Turn your goodd results into an even better one without much wait!

We return to a rather conventional circuit with a lot of pre-season testing data to give us some insight into what the weekend could look like. However it is very important to note the stark weather difference between pre-season testing and now thereby changing the order and inducing new variables to the weekend.

Put your racing passion into play and make your dream team on Grid Master in the Bahrain GP Contest that is now live!

NO ONE ELSE COULD HAVE DONE IT.

We have often heard tales of legends of the sport, the likes of Senna, Schumacher and Prost. Their race-craft, their hunger and their ability to outperform the car and situation on a given day and a general sentiment concur that Max might have been cut from the very same cloth. To come out as the biggest talking point in a weekend with so much drama leading on to the race is no mean feat. The chatter about him out-performing his car has ever increased after last year as he has consistently pulled his tractor to podiums and places it doesn’t deserve. Many agree that we are fortunate enough to witness the era of a driver who transcends the boundary of the sport itself and forging stories and tales, we will be fortunate enough to echo in the future. (Although we will never know if it is extra motivation to win or Jos’ picture in the cockpit).

Racing fans and pundits alike tend to lose their minds on the mention of classic V10 engines. They have been very critical about the fact that we made some amends to survive a little longer on this planet. Instagram feed of an average motorsport fans has atleast once inundated them with the V10 ‘thirst-trap’ reels advicing you to dive into the sweet melody of the loud engines. Well, that might just be back.

The Federation has initiated talks to bring back the V10s amidst the new regulation change in order to bring the lost glory to the sport (in case chaotic calendar and flight hours and not contributing to the environmental plight enough). This plan has been red flagged by majority of the team principals as they have progressed substantially with their 2026 hybrid engine projects. The topic being initiated however is an interesting news in itself and only time will tell if this lands somewhere changing the portrait of modern racing scene as we know it.

  Marquez brothers will be on full charge after a dent in their streak at the last Grand Prix in order to get their momentum up and running as soon as possible. Anything can happen as we make our way to the shrine of speed- Qatar! So much can unfold at any moment and we are alway just an incident short in making any round a race to remember!

Dial up your Qatar GP excitement by locking in your dream team for the Grid Master Qatar GP contest! Make your fantasy teams on Grid Master now, outscore the competition and prove your calibre as the ultimate motor-racing fan!

Look out this weekend as the Grid Master team makes their way to not one, but two international circuits in Bahrain and Qatar to witness the ultimate spectacle of racing live! Our heart-filled congratulations and wishes go to all the winners of Grid Master’s Off-2-Qatar and Off-2-Bahrain Contest who now make their way to realise their motor-racing dream in front of their eyes. Stay tuned on the Grid Master socials for all the behind-the-scenes footage and exciting trip clips.

Moreover, look out for exciting Fantasy Leagues currently live and soon to be live on Grid Master, along with some exciting collaborations with your favourite influencers. Participate more to increase your chances to win big in some fantasy leagues with a crazy prize pool.

FERRARICKSHAW

Presenting a brand new section of your much-loved newsletter, called DID YOU KNOW? A segment where we take random, interesting, shocking facts, trivia and stories, realising how they painted the motorsport world, how we now see and love!

Today we dive deep on the one exciting moments of the race- Pitlane. Do you wonder why McLaren had their garage closest to the pit exit whereas Red Bull were a bit behind? Pit boxes are alloted based on Constructors championship. The champion team enjoys the privilege of having their garage at the start or end of the pitlane, based on the circuit and we clearly witnessed this weekend what a big role it can play at times.