Mastering the Grid - S2 E27

Grid Master Newsletter

MASTERING THE GRID

Welcome to the Grid Master’s Newsletter- Mastering the Grid, brought to you by Asia's first motorsport-focused daily fantasy app— Grid Master, made for the racing fans by the racing fans in India. This newsletter was brought to you by our favourite, Griddie.

In this edition, we dive into the thrilling on-track action that took place in the Belgian GP:

  • Belgian GP - The Build-up!

  • Sprint Day!

  • Sunday Showdown!

  • Hungarian GP Contest

  • Grand Finale!

  • Moms over Motors?

  • Enjoy Qatar with Sidepod!

  • Best Team Name

  • Did you know?

But that’s not all—Grid Master is also a platform to connect with fellow fans. Let’s engage in dynamic conversations about race strategies, team rivalries, and everything. We have also launched our official WhatsApp channel where you’ll receive updates, insights, and exclusive content to help fuel your passion.

BELGIAN GP- THE BUILD-UP!

Life seemed to have meaning again as our perfect escape from our problems returned in the form of the Belgian GP this weekend, following a brief summer break before the onset of the actual summer break. (Man, that’s gonna be tough) With only one practice session, due to it being a Sprint weekend, the weekend was guaranteed to bring chaos to the upcoming sessions. The puff of smoke from the bottom of the cars as they went through Ea Rouge strongly suggested that had the car been made to run any lower, drivers would have to ditch the engine power and make it run themselves like Fred Flintstone’s car (the only thing that could have improved Ferrari's chances). The packed schedule had the teams rushing to understand their major upgrades they brought this weekend.

SPRINT DAY!

Piastri had the edge in the practice session, and the trend continued in sprint qualifying as well, but the question remained- if anyone can get one or both of them and like a classic Salman Khan movie, Max Verstappen seems to be the only guy in the world to be able to do it. Hamilton and Antonelli had a depressing SQ1 exit as the battle for SQ3 went underway with Piastri on Pole. 15 laps around the longest circuit of the calendar with no pit stops is usually bad news, but it could have been way worse had it not been for one of those Max’s lunges on Oscar in the Kemmel straight. That was all that happened in the entire race as the following 14 laps were almost a looped visual of the two McLarens stuck behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen and in a classic 2025 session, unable to overtake. (A looped visual would still have been better than cutting to each driver’s mom on the grid every 5 minutes.)

SUNDAY SHOWDOWN!

The order of the grid for Sunday didn’t look much different from it did for the Saturday sprint, as Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli were out in Q1 yet again. (Kimi taking ‘learning under Lewis’ way too seriously, I guess.) Lando re-entered the chat, grabbing pole in his final run with Oscar ready to chase him from P2 as Charles and Max occupied the second row. No girl could have played harder to get as the Belgian Grand Prix as we had to sit through a 90-minute delay due to the very thing that was going to make this race interesting- rain. A rolling start marked the beginning of the much-awaited race, and Oscar showed no hesitation in picking Lando’s pocket right in the first lap. Much like sprint, not a lot of action to be seen except Lewis’ drive as he sliced through the field. One-stop became the norm this year. Lando gave it his all to catch Oscar till the very end, but in the end, it was Oscar on top, with Charles rounding up the podium.

HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX CONTEST!

SO MUCH TO PLAY FOR, for the drivers and for us fans as Belgian GP weekend draws in and so does the Grid Master Belgin GP Contest! Championship on the table for two McLaren boys with Oscar in his ‘Villain Era’ and a memorable trip to Qatar on the table for lucky fans throught the OFF 2 QATAR Contest and Fan Championship Contest. Will the upgrades bring Ferrari in contention, can Red Bull finally be a two drvier team? Will McLaren drama return to the track that strated it all? So many questions to be answered and even more points and rewards to be earned. So put your passion, skill and intuition on the show and win big on this weekend Hungarian GP Contest only on the Grid Master app

GRAND FINALE!

It might officially be called the London E-prix, but it couldn’t have been any closer to the experience of racing in Mumbai. Race starts under the congested auditorium, gloomy looking weather and a traffic pile up before the end of the first lap, are you kidding? Evans had a great start over Nyck De Vries; however, Cassidy, behind, had the best feeling with his tyres he has had all season. (A little too late.) The feeling did translate into pace on track as he came home to win the first round ahead of De Vries and Wehrlein. For the final race of the season, Nick Cassidy continued his newfound (and late-found) momentum, starting on Pole. Rowland made his way through the crowd to battle with De Vries, and it got rather ugly at moments. However, when the dust settled, it was Cassidy and De Vries again, with Sebastien Buemi finishing the final podium of this nail-biting 2025 electric racing season.

MOMS OVER MOTORS?

As if the TV direction wasn’t bad enough as is, the director now seems to have an apparent thing about moms. Stay with me now. On-track action sometimes is so difficult to come our way, and the last thing we want to lose it over is Lando Norris’ mother. Now, we do appreciate the emotions of drivers' families when they are amidst heated battles, but that shouldn’t imply that we cut to them WHEN THEY ARE IN THE BATTLE. From cutting to the driver’s mom, even before the qualifying session has completed, and missing Albon’s monstrous lap that pushed him up to P5, to random cutaways to families, we might have seen it all. Poor TV direction has been one of the headlines in the sea of ‘WHAT WENT WRONG THIS SEASON’ and it sure isn’t getting any better as we step into the second half of the season.

ENJOY QATAR WITH SIDEPOD!

Fan of the Sidepod podcast? Would you like to hang out with the most awesome and fun bunch of our racing pundits? YOU CAN NOW! Join Grid Master and participate in the upcoming contests under the Off-2-Qatar campaign and get a chance to win a trip to Qatar with all the Sidepod members. Make this experience your most memorable racing experience yet and join our Sidepod members in the shrine of speed to witness the Championship battle unfold in front of your eyes!

BEST TEAM NAME 

CARTUNE NETWORK

- Rakesh M.B.

DID YOU KNOW?

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!

We saw a rolling start this weekend on account of treacherous conditions on the track due to wet weather. But why a rolling start? Rolling start is a procedure issued by the FIA where drivers start a Grand Prix session behind the safety car, almost akin to a safety car restart where the leader dictates the pace and starting point for the entire pack. It is done to mitigate the chaos of starting under unpredictable conditions.

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