[Purist]

I don't think he necessarily expected Bottas to slot in as he did. No it wasn't a misjudge of speed as such, as Bottas himself showed you could successfully brake significantly later for that corner.

As it was Vettel backed out somewhat early to make sure he didn't run over Hamilton. At some point, you have to admist that no racing driver worth his salt is going to voluntarily give up more than a certain amount in the opening corners onLap 1 of a race.

The racing was better than I feared it might be, but still, get rid of the chicane. A number of factors contributed to this. It's a "new" race and circuit, so data isn't quite as easy to come by, so setups and such weren't as optimized/refined, and this played into qualifying order as well I'm sure, which meant some cars were "out of place" at the start. Also, the first lap jumbled things up some. And the earlier rain would have washed at least a bit of rubber off the track. I'm glad the tires held up, so guys could actually push. Furthermore, the engine regs played a role, as a number of cars were on fresh, new PUs. (I'm thinking that that side of things in general needs a second look, especially after the differences we saw between here and Canada.) I suspect overtaking won't be as easy next year if the track configuration remains the same.

Yeah, some sections of the painted run-off were starting to bug my eyes as the race was getting on.

I'm glad to see a "new" circuit to the calendar where most all the corners have smoother profiles (the apex curbing isn't as acute and angular), and I would definitely say that the better flow this provides helps cars stay closer heading out onto the straights. Still, the tightened Pont makes it such that I think DRS is needed to have a real shot into Verrerie.