Italian GP Qualifying

Barmy weather in Italy and a real mixed up grid, hope it stays wet tomorrow:)

Tch I was just going to watch the quali hilights when I got in and the bloody news reader just blurted it out on the radio. I great hate it when that happens

Much fun to be had, but that grid position won't hold for long in a dry race, I fear.

I heard the ominous phrase 'meanwhile, at Monza...' on the radio and hit mute quickly enough to enjoy the TV later.

It was at least one quali where watching highlights saved 2.5 hours of my life

Shame the Red Bulls have penalties, I'd have loved to see Verstappen and Ricciardo trying to get past Hamilton and each other into turn 2! As it is, I can see Vettel making short work of his teammate, Ocon and Stroll (who both deserve great credit) and being on Hamilton's tail by lap 2...

Ah but don't forget that Lulu will still be grieving over Lady Di.
He'll be sitting duck for 6 laps while he writes another mawkish poem....

You know I've been bigging up Lewis since his early days in formula one. It was hard work at first it seemed I was only one that liked him. Gradually more and more were swayed over to the right side but not as many as you would have expected. He seems to be criticised for everything he does. Girlfriends. Music. Friends. Sport. His plane. His cars. Anything he does outside the F1 arena. Well I think he's a well balanced guy. He races cars but it's not his whole world. That's the way it should be.

I just watched Senna the movie (again) He was my hero before Lewis but it was a totally different game then. It was 100 percent driving. Those cars looked fantastic, sounded fantastic but were very dangerous. That's why Ayrton was a true hero. But amongst his peers Lewis is as big a hero as Ayrton was.

I've always been a Lewis fan - he's really exciting. I don't really care what he does off the track - he's an incredible driver

In my opinion as an enthusiastic armchair expert, there are four exceptional drivers on the grid, of which Lewis is currently the fastest, but only by virtue of being in the Merc. I think any of the other three would be just as quick if they were in Valtteri's car

Alonso, Verstappen, Ricciardo

The reason I think these are the four top drivers is that they all do stuff on track that ranges from a raised eyebrow to a genuine gasp of amazement. Lewis' quali lap on Saturday. Max sticking round the outside at Pouhon last year. Danny doing the dummy on Seb at Monza, and Fernando for always getting more out of the car than is seemingly possible.

All the other drivers on the grid are merely the rest of the top 20 open-wheel drivers in the world and they do pretty much what everyone expects. They drive quickly, sometimes very quickly, but they don't push the boundaries with manoeuvres that aren't in the rule book.

I don't care what Lewis does off-track, as long as he wins on-track. I don't agree with some of his lifestyle choices or his friends, but it's none of my business. I'm a fan of F1 and the sport's drivers, NOT a fan of F1 drivers' personal lives.

However, Lewis makes himself a target for the "haters" by having a lifestyle that polarises opinion. Funny though that nobody slates Kimi and he's acknowledged as one of the grid's biggest party animals.

Its difficult not to come to the conclusion that there's an element of racism in the vitriol that some people post about Lewis

He's the best F1 driver on the grid and he's a Brit - we should be celebrating this in the same way we did for Hawthorn, Hill, Clark, Surtees, Stewart, Hunt, Mansell, Hill and Button

Hmmm - half of all Brit F1 champions have surnames beginning with 'H'......