Describing his qualifying crash, Charles Leclerc used the word "ashamed", not once but several times. Fact is, it wasn't his first and it won't be his last.

Ignoring the fact that he appears to be dedicating his F1 career to Ferrari - what's that saying about those who do not learn from the past... - the Monegasque, despite the hype, in our humble opinion, is not world champion material.

Nonetheless, he can continue using his Alain Delon looks to encourage new sponsors and those fans being brought to the sport courtesy of social media and the rest, which, if nothing else, will keep Demonicalli and Co happy.

Then there's George Russell, who puts his recent issues down to "bad luck". OK, the good Lady might not have been playing ball recently, but his issues with certain tracks, certain conditions and certain set-ups suggest that there is more at play.

Fact is, neither, despite the hyperbole, has that ruthless, killer instinct such as we've seen with Senna, Schumacher and, more recently, Verstappen, and without that remorseless determination in contemporary F1 one is almost doomed to fail.

Consequently, when talking to Sky yesterday, it came as no surprise to hear Jo Ramirez, who has worked with countless legends, admit his admiration for young Kimi.

Though this weekend appears to be heading in Russell's direction, over the course of the season we expect Antonelli to come out on top. Other than his sheer speed, race-craft and determination, there is the fact that he learns from his mistakes. George will not make it easy for him, he cannot afford to, so the youngster is going to have to be on his guard.

And as Antonelli further establishes himself at Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton is finally getting to strut his stuff at Ferrari. Sadly, the Briton carries an enormous amount of baggage - no names but watch your towels - but there is no doubting his talent. He now appears to have his feet under the table at Maranello and as Ferrari finally gets what it is paying for, the team will come to adore him.

Indeed, the very fact that Leclerc is now having to follow Hamilton's lead in terms of set-ups and even brakes, suggests the seven-time world champion is establishing a new hierarchy.

That said, will the Ferrari curse strike once again.

After the silliness of Monaco, we now arrive in Barcelona where the cars can really stretch their legs and the drivers, on a circuit they know like the back of their hands, can show what they can do.

Furthermore, while the Weather Gods are not going to be spicing things up with the odd shower today, the heat means that we can expect "at least" two pits stops. Borecelona proved that, no matter the regulations of the day, overtaking is difficult here, but at least strategy can play a part today.

Then again, the new regs should ensure some yo-yoing, and let's not forget that long run to the first corner.

In terms of the start, it's Russell versus Hamilton, Antonelli, Norris, Verstappen, Hadjar and Piastri, while Leclerc will be keen to make up places after his qualifying crash.

Drivers may start on a medium-hard combination today and then decide, based on track performance, whether to finish the race on the yellow or white compound, and it is worth noting that most teams have retained two sets of hards from Friday, a compound that appears particularly effective on those cars with greater downforce, albeit with only slightly lower degradation than the other two.

There is also the option of starting on the soft, followed by medium and hard towards the end. A three-stop strategy with three soft stints and one medium does not differ significantly from these approaches. However, considering traffic and the need to overtake, it is unlikely that many teams will commit to it beforehand.

Helpfully, of all the weekends when we need to know how many sets of tyres each driver has available, Pirelli has chosen this one to not provide the information.

While we are not expecting this to be a race of attrition in the usual sense, tyre issues are going to play a major role in the outcome. Furthermore, in view of the significant number of offs this weekend we can expect more offs and track limits penalties, though hopefully no speeding in the pitlane.

Other than the big guns, watch out for the Racing Bulls and Audi, while, after a slow start to the weekend, Alpine improved on Saturday.

Williams has all but given up on this race and faces an afternoon battling with the Haas pair, hoping that it doesn't get embarrassed by Cadillac or Aston Martin.

Talking of Aston Martin, having been out-qualified by his teammate for the first time in 42 races, Alonso has taken on a new engine and will therefore start from the pitlane.

The pitlane opens and Gasly leads the way, followed by Verstappen, Colapinto, Hulkenberg and Hadjar.

Some carbonfibre appears to fall from Gasly's car.

"Brakes feel quite bad already," reports Antonelli as Bearman and Ocon are the last to take their places on the grid.

There appears to be some sort of issue with Ocon's car, the Frenchman is talking to Laura Mueller.

Air temperature is 31 degrees C, while the track temperature is 51 degrees.

There is a lot of work going on at the front of Antonelli's car, probably the brake issue he referred to.

All are starting on mediums bar Hamilton, Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Colapinto, Sainz and Ocon who are on hards and Perez, Stroll and Alonso who are on hards. Fresh rubber for all bar Hamilton and Verstappen.

Hamilton and Verstappen clearly going for an aggressive starting strategy, albeit on used rubber.

They head off on the formation lap, all getting away.

The grid forms, Alonso heading into the pitlane.

They're away! Russell gets away well, as do Hamilton and Antonelli. As Hamilton slots in behind Russell, Antonelli and Norris move across to the other side of the track.

Russell leads Hamilton into Turn 1 as Antonelli switches back across the track and behind the Ferrari, with Verstappen side-by-side with Leclerc, who has made a great start.

However, Hadjar has dropped nine places and is near the back of the field. Hulkenberg and Lindblad both run wide but rejoin.

At the end of Lap 1, it's: Russell, Hamilton, Antonelli, Norris, Verstappen, Piastri, Leclerc, Lawson, Lindblad and Hulkenberg.

By the end of Lap 2 Russell leads Hamilton by 1.4s, with Antonelli a further second behind.

Hadjar, who suffered wheelspin at the start, is all over Sainz as they battle for 13th.

Lindblad and Hulkenberg have both been noted for leaving the track at Turn 1 at the start and gaining an advantage

By the end of Lap 4 Russell's lead has increased to 2.6s.

Not for the first time it is getting spicy between the Haas drivers.

Hulkenberg and Lindblad are under investigation.

Stroll heads into the pits, seemingly to retire.

As Hadjar passes Gasly for twelfth, Leclerc gets up close and personal with Piastri.

Despite the various compounds in use everyone appears to be sliding.

Hadjar claims eleventh from Colapinto, as Leclerc makes a bold move on a struggling Piastri in Turn 3 to take sixth.