At the start of the Qatar weekend drivers and team bosses met with FIA stewards to discuss such things as driving guidelines for the future. The meeting was described a "positive".
Of course, technically, the sport is already regulated to within an inch of its life, but do we really need every move that the drivers make the result of rubber stamping by the FIA?
Yesterday, we witnessed Verstappen claim a superb pole position that came totally against the run of play, yet hours later the Dutchman was penalised... and didn't take it well.
Seemingly he drove unnecessarily slowly which was a problem for George Russell who was behind him. Neither was on a flying lap, but nonetheless the stewards deemed that the world champion was in the wrong and dropped him one grid place.
Yes, you read that right. Not three, not five, not ten or to the back of the grid, but one.
It's bad enough seeing what Liberty is doing to our sport in the name of entertainment, but surely we should be able to expect better of the governing body. Then again, with Mohammed ben Sulayem appearing to fire anyone who merely looks at him the wrong way, and high-profile departures on an almost weekly basis maybe we shouldn't be so surprised.
Then there's Mr Russell, a director of the 'drivers' union', and another of those drivers who goes running to teacher at the drop of a hat rather than sticking his elbows out and getting on with it.
Maybe, in the days before team radio, the likes of Ascari, Fangio, Brabham, Clark and Stewart were equally whiny, but somehow we don't think so, and our sport was all the better for it.
As a result of the penalty, Russell starts from pole, ahead of Verstappen, Norris - another whiner - Piastri, Leclerc, Hamilton, Sainz, Alonso, Perez and Magnussen.
While McLaren is clearly strong, form among the leading teams has fluctuated from session to session, and as a result it is hard to make a prediction.
Having claimed he'd lost it on Friday, Lewis Hamilton was on altogether better form on Saturday evening, and like his fellow veteran, Mr Alonso, should never be written off.
The drivers' title is decided but there remains the battle for the constructors', consequently McLaren and Ferrari will have to give it their all today. The Woking outfit last won the title in 1998, while its Maranello rivals triumphed in 2008, though it feels longer.
Sergio Perez, who should hang his head in shame after his Sprint start, has an opportunity to help Red Bull but does he have it in him.
Then there's the battle for sixth, with Haas, Alpine and RB, not to mention Stake, who surely deserve something from this season, especially after the performance of its two drivers yesterday.
Last year's race was marked by the excessive temperatures which took their toll on the drivers, and while the race takes place later in the year this time around, and in cooler conditions, the sheer nature of the track and the gusty conditions are once again making an impact on the drivers.
While it might be featureless in the eyes of spectators and viewers, the drivers enjoy this track, and while we can expect the inevitable DRS trains there should also be some decent overtakes courtesy of said DRS (groan) and slipstreaming.
Based on Saturday's data, the one-stop option is looking best. It's true that in the Sprint some cars reached the limit in terms of tyre wear but it did not cause a significant drop in performance. Furthermore, the track characteristics with no really heavy braking points, makes overtaking rather complicated, especially if cars find themselves in a DRS train as we saw in the Sprints, both F1 and F2.
The medium should be the favoured choice for the start, with a pit stop to take on hards between laps 16 and 24. Those starting at the back could run the two hardest compounds the other way round, while those considering a two-stop could decide to make the most of the better performance on offer from the soft in the very early stages and then continue with two sets of hard or possibly, one hard and one medium."
Air temperature is 20 degrees C, while the track temperature is 24 degrees.
The pitlane opens and Alonso is first out, followed by Piastri, Hamilton, Gasly and Stroll.
Before a wheel has turned in anger, Piastri is in trouble with the stewards for "driving erratically".
"Piastri just overtook in the pitlane entry," reports Hamilton, "attacking the white line."
The incident will be investigated after the race.
Last to take their places on the grid are the Haas pair.
Leclerc reports that due to an issue with his balaclava he cannot use his drink feed, but it's too late to do anything about it.
All are on mediums bar Hulkenberg, who is on hards, and its fresh rubber for all bar Russell, Leclerc, and Sainz.
The field heads off on the formation lap, Russell leading the way.
The grid forms.
They're away! As we've seen before, Verstappen loses out in the first phase of the start but then it all kicks in. As they head into Turn 1 he is on the inside, just ahead of Russell, as Norris attempts to go down the inside of both of them.
Indeed Norris is momentarily ahead of the Dutchman but into Turn 2 the world champion wedges back ahead.
Behind, Russel has Leclerc and Piastri filling his mirrors with Sainz looking to pick up the pieces should it come to grief.
Leclerc has a nasty wobble coming out of Turn 5 but holds it together and keeps Piastri at bay.
Further back however, Colapinto has gone off Turn 1 as has Ocon, while Hulkenberg is off at Turn 4.
Relay shows Hulkenberg lost the rear of the Haas in Turn 1 and hit Ocon, the Frenchman forced into the Williams.
The Williams and Alpine are out on the spot, while the Haas driver heads back to the pits with a puncture.
In a separate incident further around Albon and Stroll lock wheels as they battle for position, sending the Williams into a spin. Albon is able to continue with no obvious damage.
"I got hit by massively hit by Stroll," reports Albon. "I knew he was going to do it, I could tell."
The Safety Car is deployed and then withdrawn at the end of Lap 4.
Verstappen floors it heading into Turn 16, and as Russell climbs all over Norris, Piastri passes Leclerc.
Hamilton and Tsunoda pass Alonso while Lawson has dropped to last after running wide in Turn 1 at the restart as he attempted to pass Bottas.
"Man, the speed on the straight is worrying," reports Alonso as he drops a further two places.
The stewards deem that no further investigation is needed of the Hulkenberg incident.
Tsunoda is up five places from where he started, while Alonso is down four and Stroll three.
"If it's a problem let us know," Stroll is told. "It's a problem," he replies and subsequently pits... at which point he is given a 10s penalty for causing a collision.
That said, the Canadian rejoins the race.
"I cannot ******* believe it man, two ******* years with the same problem on the straights," complains Alonso.
To add to his problems the Spaniard has been noted for rejoining the track unsafely.
Hamilton has also been noted for a false start.
At the end of Lap 9 Stroll pits again, this time to retire.
Out front, Verstappen leads Norris by 2s with Russell a further 1.5s behind.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Qatar here.
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