Air temperature was 33 degrees Celsius, when the lights went out at Baku City Circuit. Hamilton had been given a permission to change his tyres; the FIA had considered his qualifying tyres to be in too bad a shape for the race. The start felt hair-raising. Would there be collisions in the first corners? How many safety car episodes would we see?
It was amazing, how clean the start was! Rosberg was able to maintain his lead with Red Bull´s Ricciardo second. The Ferraris of Sebastian and Kimi followed the Australian closely. Perez in his Force India, on the other hand, was right at Kimi´s tail. Red Bull´s young talent Verstappen was struggling with his pace on the opening laps. Bottas in his Williams could pass the Dutchman quite easily, and Mercedes ace Hamilton was right at Verstappen´s tail. Max ended up going wide, and Hamilton made it past Verstappen in an easy-looking way. From the beginning it was obvious, that Red Bull was struggling with heavy tyre degradation. Ricciardo in the second Red Bull was also in trouble. Sebastian had closed the gap to the Australian, and on lap 6 the German made a successful overtaking move on his ex teammate at the finish straight. Ricciardo pitted already on the following lap -for a fresh set of soft tyres.
By lap 9 Rosberg had increased the gap to Sebastian into ten seconds. Sebastian was told on the team radio to pit, but Sebastian questioned the request by asking, whether the team was sure about that. Sebastian said his pace was very good. The team replied, that they wanted to prevent Ricciardo from benefitting of the undercut. Sebastian didn´t pit; instead it was Kimi, who pitted also for a fresh set of soft tyres. To me it seemed like a two-stop strategy. Would it be possible to drive 40 laps on the soft tyres? Kimi rejoined the track in P11.
Kimi faced a setback on lap 12, as the Iceman had been taken into investigation by the stewards for crossing the white line at the pit entry. Penalty was inevitable; Kimi was given a 5-second time penalty for his infringement. It was such a shame, as Kimi´s pace seemed utterly excellent and he kept improving lap by lap! Kimi was absolutely flying on the track and kept banging fastest lap times one after another.
Hamilton pitted on lap 16, and Perez a lap later -both opted for the yellow-marked soft rubber. At this time Rosberg in the lead had already increased his gap to Sebastian into 20 seconds. It was clear, that nobody could challenge the German Mercedes ace for victory by driving! Sebastian pitted not until on lap 20; his tyre choice was similar to his teammate´s. Rosberg pitted from the lead a lap after Sebastian -for a fresh set of soft tyres as well.
Towards the halfway of the race Sebastian had closed the gap to his teammate due to his fresher tyres. Kimi didn´t even try to prevent Sebastian from overtaking him, which was a classy team effort from the Iceman. A moment later we heard a legendary team radio message from Kimi. The team thanked him for letting Sebastian through. Kimi answered the team to tell Sebastian to push, as he didn´t want to have anyone in front of him. Sebastian answered immediately by setting the fastest lap time!
With some 20 laps to go, Hamilton had a technical issue with his car. The Briton was driving in P5 and he was struggling with his pace. Hamilton sounded frustrated on the team radio; he kept asking the team, what he should do to change the settings on his car. Due to the new radio regulations the team, however, wasn´t allowed to advice Hamilton on the correct procedure. Hamilton sounded absolutely gutted, and he said he was going to change every setting of the car, but the team strongly replied, that they "wouldn´t advice on that". At the same time we heard really heated Kimi on the team radio raging about Sauber´s Ericsson, who didn´t seem to notice the blue flags; Kimi lost plenty of valuable time, before Ericsson finally let the Iceman through. Kimi was only a couple of seconds ahead of Force India´s Perez, and there was the 5-second time penalty on the way...
Towards the end of the race, Hamilton´s issue had suddenly disappeared. But it was too late to even dream about a podium finish. Rosberg cruised to his fifth victory of the season, although he had allegedly suffered from a similar issue with his car to his teammate. Sebastian had driven a brilliant race; one-stopper was definitely the right strategy today! Kimi´s SF16-H was already on a fuel-saving mode on the final lap, and Perez managed to overtake the Iceman easily on the final lap. Although it wouldn´t have made any difference, if Kimi had been able to keep Perez behind, as there was the 5-second time penalty for the Finn. That mistake was such a shame; it was Kimi´s own fault, he hadn´t paid attention to the white line at the pit entry, until it was already too late. But still, Kimi´s performance was very strong today. And at the end of the day, Kimi really was able to drive 40 laps on the same set of soft tyres! It would have been such a pleasure to see both red-suited drivers on the podium today!
Hamilton had to settle for P5 today. Bottas in his Williams was also on a one-stop strategy, and the Finn finished 6th. Red Bull had difficulties with the tyre management and they were struggling with their performance in spite of the two-stop strategy. Ricciardo couldn´t finish higher than P7, and in spite of some great overtaking moves Verstappen also had to settle for P8. Hulkenberg finished 9th and Massa 10th. But no safety car in the race! No hitting walls and no crashes at the start! And this time, no seagulls, either ;) So in that way it was quite a surprising inaugural Azerbaijan GP. Rosberg has now a 24-point lead over his teammate in the championship standings. Sebastian is third and Kimi fourth.
Can´t wait, what will happen in Austria in a fortnight! Still eagerly waiting for that first Ferrari victory of the season!
P.S. You´re welcome to read my thoughts on the inaugural Baku race also here: http://sfcriga.com/europe-gp-2016-brilliant-2nd-place-for-sebastian-and-a-costly-mistake-for-kimi
Kimi Räikkönen & Sebastian Vettel
sunnuntai 19. kesäkuuta 2016
lauantai 18. kesäkuuta 2016
Europe GP / Qualifying: Rosberg owned qualifying, as Hamilton crashed out in Q3!
Everyone was excited, as the Formula 1 circus moved to the brand new Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan this weekend. From the very first practice session it was obvious, that it was a tricky circuit: the walls were near and it was very easy to make a mistake at the braking. I found it absolutely amazing, that the drivers were actually going 350 km/h on the 2-kilometre long finish straight!
The Mercedes drivers Rosberg and Hamilton came out right away, as Q1 got underway. They set the fastest lap times of the weekend already on their first attempts. Williams´ Bottas had been very competitive in Friday´s free practice sessions, and the Finn jumped third on his first run. There was no doubt about Hamilton´s pace at Baku, but it turned out to be hard for the Briton to put a lap together. We saw Hamilton going down the Turn 15 escape road and then heading for the pits. The Ferrari drivers Kimi and Sebastian came out not until towards the halfway of the first session. Ferrari was a bit lost with their performance in the narrow streets of Baku, and Kimi had to settle for the modest P9 in Q1, his teammate being down in P11. Out of Q2 were the familiar names: the Manors of Haryanto and Wehrlein, Button in his McLaren, Ericsson in his Sauber and the Renaults of Magnussen and Palmer.
Ferrari´s tame performance continued in Q2. After the first run Sebastian was in P3; massive two seconds down on Rosberg, who was topping the timesheets! Hamilton´s difficulties continued in the second session, as the Briton made another costly mistake at the braking, which caused flat spots on his both front tyres. At this point there were only 2 minutes left in the clock and the Briton was down in P10. Hamilton managed to put together a decent lap in the dying moments of Q2 and jumped second -a second down on his teammate. Force India´s pace seemed extremely competitive, and Perez was third fastest in Q2. Eye-catching was the fact, that this time it was Kvyat, who made it among the top ten, whereas Toro Rosso teammate Sainz was knocked out of the decisive last session. The top ten consisted of the top four teams: Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull and Williams. In addition to these, Perez in his Force India and Kvyat in his Toro Rosso made the top ten.
Q3 saw a hectic start. Verstappen in his BR12 went off at Turn 1, then having a territorial dispute with Williams´ Bottas. Hamilton was four-tenths up on his teammate on his first run, when he locked up and went straight on at Turn 15, and Rosberg had to back off his lap as a result. After the first runs Force India´s Perez was topping the timesheets with Sebastian second and Kimi third! This time there were only nine-thousandths separating the Ferrari teammates. This was calm before the storm; only a moment later Rosberg stormed to the lead, being seven-tenths up on his rivals! Hamilton´s disastrous session ended, when he walloped the inside wall with his right-front wheel, which damaged the suspension, and the Briton was out of the session! The red flag was deployed with two minutes and five seconds remaining. At the restart there was an incident, which looked like an unsafe release, as Bottas was released from the pits right ahead of Ferrari´s Sebastian Vettel. After that Bottas and Verstappen immediately restarted their turf war and spoiled each other´s efforts. Rosberg decided to sit out the final run. Red Bull´s Ricciardo was able to improve his lap time, with an identical time to Sebastian! Rosberg took a sweeping pole with Force India´s Perez second! Ricciardo qualified 3rd, having set the lap time a fraction before Sebastian. Kimi qualified 5th, Massa 6th, Kvyat 7th, Bottas 8th, Verstappen 9th and Hamilton was left in P10 due to his crash. Perez, however, has been handed a 5-place grid penalty due to a gearbox change, so the Mexican will drop down to P7.
What a race is in prospect, as Rosberg seeks redemption after two poor races, Hamilton has to once again fight his way through the field, and Perez, Ricciardo, Sebastian and Kimi smell blood in the water. Ferrari had massive difficulties to get the tyres up to temperature in Canada. Hopefully that won´t be the case at Baku tomorrow. At least the conditions are much warmer in Azerbaijan. Mercedes seems absolutely dominant in terms of performance, but I hope Sebastian will be able to challenge Rosberg at the start. And what about Hamilton and his flat-spotted tyres? Will he get his tyres to work normally or do the flat spots have an effect on the Briton´s race? Baku City Circuit should offer plenty of chances for overtaking, so I´m looking forward to an entertaining show -hopefully by Kimi, Sebastian and certain Max Verstappen!
The Mercedes drivers Rosberg and Hamilton came out right away, as Q1 got underway. They set the fastest lap times of the weekend already on their first attempts. Williams´ Bottas had been very competitive in Friday´s free practice sessions, and the Finn jumped third on his first run. There was no doubt about Hamilton´s pace at Baku, but it turned out to be hard for the Briton to put a lap together. We saw Hamilton going down the Turn 15 escape road and then heading for the pits. The Ferrari drivers Kimi and Sebastian came out not until towards the halfway of the first session. Ferrari was a bit lost with their performance in the narrow streets of Baku, and Kimi had to settle for the modest P9 in Q1, his teammate being down in P11. Out of Q2 were the familiar names: the Manors of Haryanto and Wehrlein, Button in his McLaren, Ericsson in his Sauber and the Renaults of Magnussen and Palmer.
Ferrari´s tame performance continued in Q2. After the first run Sebastian was in P3; massive two seconds down on Rosberg, who was topping the timesheets! Hamilton´s difficulties continued in the second session, as the Briton made another costly mistake at the braking, which caused flat spots on his both front tyres. At this point there were only 2 minutes left in the clock and the Briton was down in P10. Hamilton managed to put together a decent lap in the dying moments of Q2 and jumped second -a second down on his teammate. Force India´s pace seemed extremely competitive, and Perez was third fastest in Q2. Eye-catching was the fact, that this time it was Kvyat, who made it among the top ten, whereas Toro Rosso teammate Sainz was knocked out of the decisive last session. The top ten consisted of the top four teams: Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull and Williams. In addition to these, Perez in his Force India and Kvyat in his Toro Rosso made the top ten.
Q3 saw a hectic start. Verstappen in his BR12 went off at Turn 1, then having a territorial dispute with Williams´ Bottas. Hamilton was four-tenths up on his teammate on his first run, when he locked up and went straight on at Turn 15, and Rosberg had to back off his lap as a result. After the first runs Force India´s Perez was topping the timesheets with Sebastian second and Kimi third! This time there were only nine-thousandths separating the Ferrari teammates. This was calm before the storm; only a moment later Rosberg stormed to the lead, being seven-tenths up on his rivals! Hamilton´s disastrous session ended, when he walloped the inside wall with his right-front wheel, which damaged the suspension, and the Briton was out of the session! The red flag was deployed with two minutes and five seconds remaining. At the restart there was an incident, which looked like an unsafe release, as Bottas was released from the pits right ahead of Ferrari´s Sebastian Vettel. After that Bottas and Verstappen immediately restarted their turf war and spoiled each other´s efforts. Rosberg decided to sit out the final run. Red Bull´s Ricciardo was able to improve his lap time, with an identical time to Sebastian! Rosberg took a sweeping pole with Force India´s Perez second! Ricciardo qualified 3rd, having set the lap time a fraction before Sebastian. Kimi qualified 5th, Massa 6th, Kvyat 7th, Bottas 8th, Verstappen 9th and Hamilton was left in P10 due to his crash. Perez, however, has been handed a 5-place grid penalty due to a gearbox change, so the Mexican will drop down to P7.
What a race is in prospect, as Rosberg seeks redemption after two poor races, Hamilton has to once again fight his way through the field, and Perez, Ricciardo, Sebastian and Kimi smell blood in the water. Ferrari had massive difficulties to get the tyres up to temperature in Canada. Hopefully that won´t be the case at Baku tomorrow. At least the conditions are much warmer in Azerbaijan. Mercedes seems absolutely dominant in terms of performance, but I hope Sebastian will be able to challenge Rosberg at the start. And what about Hamilton and his flat-spotted tyres? Will he get his tyres to work normally or do the flat spots have an effect on the Briton´s race? Baku City Circuit should offer plenty of chances for overtaking, so I´m looking forward to an entertaining show -hopefully by Kimi, Sebastian and certain Max Verstappen!
maanantai 13. kesäkuuta 2016
Canadian GP: Ferrari´s tyre strategy costly for Sebastian!
Surprisingly it wasn´t raining, when the race was about to get underway. It was cold and windy, but luckily no rain. What a spectacular start Sebastian took from P3! He stormed to the lead making it past both Mercedes drivers right away! The Mercedes teammates were alongside each other going into Turn 1, and their front wheels touched, which made Rosberg go wide and lose many positions. The German rejoined the track in disappointing P10. Hamilton was second and Verstappen third, after passing his teammate Ricciardo at the start. Kimi was fifth and the other Finn Bottas in P6.
By lap 10 Sebastian and Hamilton were running away from their rivals, as Verstappen was already 8 seconds down on the race leader Sebastian. Ricciardo, on the other hand, was right at his teammate´s tail. It seemed, that Ricciardo was faster than Verstappen, and soon Max got the expected message on the team radio: "Don´t hold up your teammate." I was almost certain, that Max wasn´t going to obey the team order. And I was right; Max immediately started to set more competitive and faster lap times.
On lap 11 McLaren´s Button suffered a sudden loss of power, and the Briton´s race was over. Button´s retirement caused virtual safety car to be deployed. Both Ferrari drivers were called into the pits, and they both opted for the red-marked supersoft compound. I was quite surprised about the tyre choice, as there was no way the Ferrari duo could drive till the very end on those tyres! Sebastian rejoined the track in P4, but Kimi instead dropped down to P14 due to his early pit stop. After the pit stop Sebastian was significantly quicker than the Red Bulls ahead of him, and Ricciardo was Sebastian´s first target. And finally there was nothing the Australian could do to prevent the hungry Ferrari ace from overtaking him. Only a lap later Sebastian made a stunning overtaking move on Verstappen, and Sebastian jumped already second. At this point it seemed, that Sebastian was definitely going to fight for victory at Montreal.
Verstappen pitted on lap 20, and the Dutchman opted for the yellow-marked soft tyres, which was the hardest compound used in Montreal. Teammate Ricciardo pitted a couple of laps later -also for a fresh set of soft tyres. Soft tyres were also Rosberg´s choice, as the German pitted a lap after Ricciardo. Now I started to be pretty worried about Ferrari´s tyre strategy: Had the Italian-based team made the right call when opting for the supersofts? Bottas in his Williams pitted on lap 24 and race leader Hamilton on lap 25 -both for a fresh set of soft tyres. Ferrari was the only team to choose the supersoft tyres for the second stint. And it seemed, that the Ferrari drivers were the only ones on a two-stop strategy!
On lap 27 Sebastian was leading the race; Hamilton was 13 seconds down on the Ferrari pilot. Verstappen was third, Kimi was 4th, Ricciardo 5th, Bottas 6th and Rosberg 7th. On lap 34 Kimi pitted for the second time -this time for a fresh set of soft tyres. Due to his pit stop Kimi dropped down to P8. Sebastian pitted three laps later, and his tyre choice was similar to Kimi´s. Sebastian rejoined the track in second place, but had many cars ahead of him to be lapped. Bottas managed to get past Red Bull´s Ricciardo, and the Finn jumped fourth. Ricciardo was struggling with his race pace; also Rosberg managed to overtake the Australian a few laps later. Ricciardo was called into the pits, this time for another fresh set of soft tyres.
Verstappen pitted on lap 47 -this time for a fresh set of ultrasoft tyres, and the Dutch Red Bull pilot rejoined the track in P5 -right ahead of Kimi. At this point Sebastian was consistently closing the gap to Hamilton in the lead. Rosberg on the other hand, was facing difficulties, as there were several warning lights on his steering wheel. He was also told on the team radio, that he was having a slow puncture, and the German had no choice but to pit on lap 52. On the fresh tyres Rosberg was flying; inevitably the German made his way first past Ricciardo and then past Kimi.
With 10 laps to go Hamilton was leading the race, Sebastian was second, and Bottas was convincingly third. Verstappen was fourth, Rosberg fifth and Kimi 6th. Sebastian´s chase for Hamilton wasn´t entirely problem-free, as the German went wide at the chicane more than once. One time there were two seagulls sitting in the middle of the chicane, which caused Sebastian a lock-up! In the closing laps Rosberg had also chased down Verstappen and put lots of pressure on the Dutch teenager. A couple of times Rosberg even made it alongside Verstappen, but Max defended his fourth position in a brilliant and genius way; he was absolutely persistent not to let Rosberg through! On the second last lap Rosberg ended up spinning when trying to get past Max; however, he still managed to keep his fifth place. This battle showed once again, that there´s something extraordinary about this young Red Bull driver. Not every driver has the courage and attitude to drive like this young man does!
So fifth Montreal win for Hamilton. I had been hoping, that Sebastian could have challenged the Briton for victory for real. It was close, but still so far away! Williams has been struggling with their performance this season, so Bottas was absolutely delighted about making it on the podium. Verstappen made an awesome job by finishing 4th, and Rosberg had to settle for P5. Kimi was also struggling with his pace; to me it seemed as if Kimi had been driving a whole different car compared to his teammate!
Yesterday´s result means, that Hamilton is now only 9 points down on his teammate in the drivers´ championship standings. Sebastian has now jumped third, but he´s already 38 points down on Hamilton. Luckily racing is back on already this week, as Formula 1 moves to a brand new venue of Baku street circuit in Azerbaijan! Can´t wait!
P.S. My article on the race is also available on the Scuderia Ferrari Club Riga web site: http://sfcriga.com/canadian-gp-2016-did-tyre-strategy-cost-victory
By lap 10 Sebastian and Hamilton were running away from their rivals, as Verstappen was already 8 seconds down on the race leader Sebastian. Ricciardo, on the other hand, was right at his teammate´s tail. It seemed, that Ricciardo was faster than Verstappen, and soon Max got the expected message on the team radio: "Don´t hold up your teammate." I was almost certain, that Max wasn´t going to obey the team order. And I was right; Max immediately started to set more competitive and faster lap times.
On lap 11 McLaren´s Button suffered a sudden loss of power, and the Briton´s race was over. Button´s retirement caused virtual safety car to be deployed. Both Ferrari drivers were called into the pits, and they both opted for the red-marked supersoft compound. I was quite surprised about the tyre choice, as there was no way the Ferrari duo could drive till the very end on those tyres! Sebastian rejoined the track in P4, but Kimi instead dropped down to P14 due to his early pit stop. After the pit stop Sebastian was significantly quicker than the Red Bulls ahead of him, and Ricciardo was Sebastian´s first target. And finally there was nothing the Australian could do to prevent the hungry Ferrari ace from overtaking him. Only a lap later Sebastian made a stunning overtaking move on Verstappen, and Sebastian jumped already second. At this point it seemed, that Sebastian was definitely going to fight for victory at Montreal.
Verstappen pitted on lap 20, and the Dutchman opted for the yellow-marked soft tyres, which was the hardest compound used in Montreal. Teammate Ricciardo pitted a couple of laps later -also for a fresh set of soft tyres. Soft tyres were also Rosberg´s choice, as the German pitted a lap after Ricciardo. Now I started to be pretty worried about Ferrari´s tyre strategy: Had the Italian-based team made the right call when opting for the supersofts? Bottas in his Williams pitted on lap 24 and race leader Hamilton on lap 25 -both for a fresh set of soft tyres. Ferrari was the only team to choose the supersoft tyres for the second stint. And it seemed, that the Ferrari drivers were the only ones on a two-stop strategy!
On lap 27 Sebastian was leading the race; Hamilton was 13 seconds down on the Ferrari pilot. Verstappen was third, Kimi was 4th, Ricciardo 5th, Bottas 6th and Rosberg 7th. On lap 34 Kimi pitted for the second time -this time for a fresh set of soft tyres. Due to his pit stop Kimi dropped down to P8. Sebastian pitted three laps later, and his tyre choice was similar to Kimi´s. Sebastian rejoined the track in second place, but had many cars ahead of him to be lapped. Bottas managed to get past Red Bull´s Ricciardo, and the Finn jumped fourth. Ricciardo was struggling with his race pace; also Rosberg managed to overtake the Australian a few laps later. Ricciardo was called into the pits, this time for another fresh set of soft tyres.
Verstappen pitted on lap 47 -this time for a fresh set of ultrasoft tyres, and the Dutch Red Bull pilot rejoined the track in P5 -right ahead of Kimi. At this point Sebastian was consistently closing the gap to Hamilton in the lead. Rosberg on the other hand, was facing difficulties, as there were several warning lights on his steering wheel. He was also told on the team radio, that he was having a slow puncture, and the German had no choice but to pit on lap 52. On the fresh tyres Rosberg was flying; inevitably the German made his way first past Ricciardo and then past Kimi.
With 10 laps to go Hamilton was leading the race, Sebastian was second, and Bottas was convincingly third. Verstappen was fourth, Rosberg fifth and Kimi 6th. Sebastian´s chase for Hamilton wasn´t entirely problem-free, as the German went wide at the chicane more than once. One time there were two seagulls sitting in the middle of the chicane, which caused Sebastian a lock-up! In the closing laps Rosberg had also chased down Verstappen and put lots of pressure on the Dutch teenager. A couple of times Rosberg even made it alongside Verstappen, but Max defended his fourth position in a brilliant and genius way; he was absolutely persistent not to let Rosberg through! On the second last lap Rosberg ended up spinning when trying to get past Max; however, he still managed to keep his fifth place. This battle showed once again, that there´s something extraordinary about this young Red Bull driver. Not every driver has the courage and attitude to drive like this young man does!
So fifth Montreal win for Hamilton. I had been hoping, that Sebastian could have challenged the Briton for victory for real. It was close, but still so far away! Williams has been struggling with their performance this season, so Bottas was absolutely delighted about making it on the podium. Verstappen made an awesome job by finishing 4th, and Rosberg had to settle for P5. Kimi was also struggling with his pace; to me it seemed as if Kimi had been driving a whole different car compared to his teammate!
Yesterday´s result means, that Hamilton is now only 9 points down on his teammate in the drivers´ championship standings. Sebastian has now jumped third, but he´s already 38 points down on Hamilton. Luckily racing is back on already this week, as Formula 1 moves to a brand new venue of Baku street circuit in Azerbaijan! Can´t wait!
P.S. My article on the race is also available on the Scuderia Ferrari Club Riga web site: http://sfcriga.com/canadian-gp-2016-did-tyre-strategy-cost-victory
sunnuntai 12. kesäkuuta 2016
Canadian GP / Qualifying: Hamilton claimed his fifth Montreal pole!
The weather forecast said there was a slight chance of rain during the qualifying, so everyone rushed out, when Q1 got underway. Everyone -except the Force India duo of Hulkenberg and Perez- opted for the purple-marked ultrasoft compound. Once again I couldn´t help wondering the performance of this new tyre compound. In spite of being the softest of all compounds, it took a while to make the tyre work in the cool conditions of Montreal, and it was possible to run many time laps on the same set of ultrasoft tyres! Q1 saw light rain towards the end of the session, but it had no effect on the track conditions. Rosberg, Vettel and Ricciardo were the fastest men in Q1, which predicted a good fight for pole between Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. Palmer in his Renault was the first faller in Q1 -his teammate Magnussen couldn´t even participate in the qualifying after Renault were unable to get his car repaired in time following his FP3 crash. Out of Q2 were also the Manors of Wehrlein and Haryanto and the Saubers of Ericsson and Nasr.
The sky was alarmingly grey, when Q2 got underway. The second session was punctuated by a red-flag period five minutes in after Sainz clouted the right side of his Toro Rosso against the infamous wall of champions. Hamilton and Rosberg topped the time sheets, with only two hundredths of a second separating the Mercedes teammates. Ricciardo in his Red Bull was half a second down on the Mercedes duo. Alonso in his McLaren managed to set a competitive lap time and made it among the top ten; whereas his teammate Button was bumped out of the decisive final session. Joining Button on the Q2 elimination list were Perez in his Force India, Kvyat in his Toro Rosso and the Haas duo of Gutierrez and Grosjean. Toro Rosso´s Sainz had already ruined his qualifying when hitting the wall of champions.
In Q3 Kimi in his Ferrari and Williams´ Massa were the only drivers to sit out the first runs. Making only one run in Q3 has never quite worked for Kimi, so I couldn´t help wondering, why the Finn had opted for this strategy again. I got the explanation after the qualifying, though; Kimi had only one set of fresh ultrasoft tyres left. Hamilton took provisional pole, but his teammate Rosberg was only 0,063s down on the Briton! After the first runs Red Bull´s Verstappen was phenomenally third in the standings. Sebastian had a scare when he brushed the wall of champions, but luckily he avoided damage. The German was fourth after his first attempt. Kimi and Massa came out not until there were 5 minutes left in the clock. Hamilton didn´t manage to improve his lap time on his second run; Rosberg, too had a lock-up in Turn 1, which made him abandon his attempt. Pole therefore was Hamilton´s -his fourth of the season, fifth in Canada and by the closest margin so far in 2016! Sebastian managed to jump third on his second run, being 0,178s down on pole-setter Hamilton. Sebastian´s pace was convincing, but not quite enough to challenge the Mercedes duo for pole. Ricciardo beat Red Bull teammate Verstappen to fourth place, whereas Kimi had to settle for P6. The Williams teammates Bottas and Massa locked the fourth row; Force India´s Hulkenberg and McLaren´s Alonso completed the top ten. What caught my eye, was the fact, that at the end of the day Kimi was almost 6-tenths off his teammate!
In terms of the Canadian GP there´s one question in everybody´s mind: how many casualties will the wall of champions claim in the race and who will they be? In variable weather the risk to hit the wall of champions will definitely increase. In two previous years Kimi has spun in the hair pin on the out-lap after his pit stop; hopefully history won´t repeat itself this year! Red Bull has definitely closed the gap to Ferrari, so I´m confident there´ll be an entertaining fight for positions in today´s race. Mercedes´ and Ferrari´s long-run pace is quite evenly matched; could we finally see a red-suited driver on the top step of the podium today?
I´m sure Verstappen learned his lesson in Monaco and he will stay away from the wall of champions. In the pre-qualifying broadcast for the Finnish TV the former Finnish F1 driver Mika Salo told, that he had met Max Verstappen´s father Jos after the Monaco GP. Jos had told Salo, how he used to punish Max as a boy by making him stand in the corner, when he had made something wrong. Jos had joked, that he had told his son to stand in the corner again after coming home from the mistake-filled Monaco GP. The Finnish F1 reporter Mervi Kallio asked about this story when interviewing Verstappen after the qualifying -what an utterly awkward moment for Max! Well, I hope Max will shine like a star today, so that he won´t have to stand in the corner again ;)
The sky was alarmingly grey, when Q2 got underway. The second session was punctuated by a red-flag period five minutes in after Sainz clouted the right side of his Toro Rosso against the infamous wall of champions. Hamilton and Rosberg topped the time sheets, with only two hundredths of a second separating the Mercedes teammates. Ricciardo in his Red Bull was half a second down on the Mercedes duo. Alonso in his McLaren managed to set a competitive lap time and made it among the top ten; whereas his teammate Button was bumped out of the decisive final session. Joining Button on the Q2 elimination list were Perez in his Force India, Kvyat in his Toro Rosso and the Haas duo of Gutierrez and Grosjean. Toro Rosso´s Sainz had already ruined his qualifying when hitting the wall of champions.
In Q3 Kimi in his Ferrari and Williams´ Massa were the only drivers to sit out the first runs. Making only one run in Q3 has never quite worked for Kimi, so I couldn´t help wondering, why the Finn had opted for this strategy again. I got the explanation after the qualifying, though; Kimi had only one set of fresh ultrasoft tyres left. Hamilton took provisional pole, but his teammate Rosberg was only 0,063s down on the Briton! After the first runs Red Bull´s Verstappen was phenomenally third in the standings. Sebastian had a scare when he brushed the wall of champions, but luckily he avoided damage. The German was fourth after his first attempt. Kimi and Massa came out not until there were 5 minutes left in the clock. Hamilton didn´t manage to improve his lap time on his second run; Rosberg, too had a lock-up in Turn 1, which made him abandon his attempt. Pole therefore was Hamilton´s -his fourth of the season, fifth in Canada and by the closest margin so far in 2016! Sebastian managed to jump third on his second run, being 0,178s down on pole-setter Hamilton. Sebastian´s pace was convincing, but not quite enough to challenge the Mercedes duo for pole. Ricciardo beat Red Bull teammate Verstappen to fourth place, whereas Kimi had to settle for P6. The Williams teammates Bottas and Massa locked the fourth row; Force India´s Hulkenberg and McLaren´s Alonso completed the top ten. What caught my eye, was the fact, that at the end of the day Kimi was almost 6-tenths off his teammate!
In terms of the Canadian GP there´s one question in everybody´s mind: how many casualties will the wall of champions claim in the race and who will they be? In variable weather the risk to hit the wall of champions will definitely increase. In two previous years Kimi has spun in the hair pin on the out-lap after his pit stop; hopefully history won´t repeat itself this year! Red Bull has definitely closed the gap to Ferrari, so I´m confident there´ll be an entertaining fight for positions in today´s race. Mercedes´ and Ferrari´s long-run pace is quite evenly matched; could we finally see a red-suited driver on the top step of the podium today?
I´m sure Verstappen learned his lesson in Monaco and he will stay away from the wall of champions. In the pre-qualifying broadcast for the Finnish TV the former Finnish F1 driver Mika Salo told, that he had met Max Verstappen´s father Jos after the Monaco GP. Jos had told Salo, how he used to punish Max as a boy by making him stand in the corner, when he had made something wrong. Jos had joked, that he had told his son to stand in the corner again after coming home from the mistake-filled Monaco GP. The Finnish F1 reporter Mervi Kallio asked about this story when interviewing Verstappen after the qualifying -what an utterly awkward moment for Max! Well, I hope Max will shine like a star today, so that he won´t have to stand in the corner again ;)
sunnuntai 29. toukokuuta 2016
Monaco GP: Pit stop delay cost Ricciardo the Monaco win!
This time the weather forecast was right, and it was raining in Monaco, when the race was about to get underway. The track was so wet, that the race was decided to be started behind the safety car. Naturally all drivers had the blue-marked full-wet tyres on. There was no excitement at the start, since it happened behind the safety car, and Ricciardo´s lead wasn´t compromised. Kvyat at the wheel of his Toro Rosso had a horrible start to the race, as the Russian faced difficulties right at the beginning of the race. Kvyat seemed extremely frustrated on the team radio, as the Russian was asking, why it was always him hit with the difficulties. I definitely don´t envy him; turning his career from disappointments and setbacks into success isn´t an easy task after being demoted back to Toro Rosso.
On lap 8 the safety car came in, and the race was finally on! Ricciardo was leading the race with Rosberg second and Hamilton third. But then Renault´s Palmer hit the wall, and there was a lot of debris on the track. This time virtual safety car was deployed. The race was back on a couple of laps later. There was an intense battle going on between the Mercedes teammates. Hamilton was right at Nico´s tail, and it seemed obvious, that the Briton was faster than his teammate.
On lap 11 there was an unexpected and disappointing moment, when Kimi was going through the hair pin in almost walking speed, but had a lock-up and ended up in the wall. The crash was enough to destroy Kimi´s front wing, which got stuck under the front-left tyre of Kimi´s SF16-H and the Finn was unable to make it into the pits. It seemed to be Kimi´s mistake, which lead into his second DNF of the season. I was so gutted for the Iceman. I would have wanted to see him fighting for points in the changing conditions!
On lap 16 it finally happened: Hamilton made it past Rosberg and jumped second. It seemed as if Rosberg was having an issue with his car, because the German´s pace looked significantly slower than his teammate´s. After the overtaking move Hamilton rapidly increased the gap to his teammate into several seconds. Sebastian was the first top driver to pit for intermediate tyres. The German Ferrari driver, however, rejoined the track behind Williams´ Massa. Sebastian was clearly faster than the Brazilian, but in the narrow streets of the Principality there was no chance to get past. This cost Sebastian a lot of valuable time! Rosberg pitted on lap 21 -also for intermediate tyres. Ricciardo pitted a lap later for the same tyres. Now it was Hamilton leading the race -still on the full-wet tyres.
Red Bull´s young Verstappen had started to the race from the pit lane, but by lap 24 the Dutchman had already made it P10. His driving was so refreshing to watch; the Red Bull teenager showed, that overtaking in Monaco was possible. When there´s will, there´s way :) Hamilton pitted not until on lap 32 -not for intermediate tyres though, but a fresh set of purple-marked ultra soft tyres! What a bold move from the Briton indeed. Ricciardo pitted on the very same lap; but what a pit stop it turned out to be. The tyres weren´t ready, although Ricciardo had been called into the pits! It took 10 extra seconds, until the team got the super soft tyres on Ricciardo´s car! This unforgettable mistake enabled Hamilton to take the lead in the race! Hamilton was leading, Ricciardo second and Force India´s Perez was third.
Towards the halfway of the race Verstappen had shown phenomenal overtaking, but suddenly it took only a small mistake to end his race. Verstappen had a lock-up, he went on the damp line and ended up in the wall! Another huge disappointment for me! Monaco definitely doesn´t allow any mistakes. The glory of all the overtaking moves was suddenly gone. In the lead there was a thrilling battle going between Hamilton and Ricciardo. The Australian was putting massive pressure on the Mercedes pilot. Hamilton made a questionable move, as he cut a chicane a bit and blocked Ricciardo after that, but no penalties were warranted for this incident, although it was investigated by the stewards.
The tyre strategy varied between the top five drivers: Hamilton had ultra soft tyres, Ricciardo super softs, Perez soft tyres as well as Sebastian in P4, and Rosberg had also opted for ultra softs. On lap 50 there was drama between the Sauber teammates Nasr and Ericsson; the Brazilian was asked on the team radio to let Ericsson past, but Nasr didn´t want to obey the team order. Instead, the teammates ended up colliding with each other! There was smoke coming out of Nasr´s car, and his race was over. At this point Rosberg was down in P6. Where had Rosberg´s magical pace disappeared?
Sebastian managed to get into DRS distance from Perez, but there seemed to be no chance for overtaking really. The same implied to the battle in the lead: Ricciardo got dangerously close to Hamilton, but couldn´t challenge the Briton for the victory after the catastrophic pit stop. Which was quite a shame, as Ricciardo himself drove a flawless race and would have deserved to win! No wonder we saw an extremely disappointed Ricciardo on the podium. It´s ironic, that Red Bull gives you wings, but it doesn´t give you the tyres!
Hamilton took his second win at Monaco and decreased Rosberg´s lead in the championship standings into just 24 points. Ricciardo is now third in the standings, jumping the Ferrari duo of Räikkönen and Vettel. Perez made an amazing job today by finishing third, and the Mexican was absolutely overwhelmed with joy. Sebastian had to settle for P4 today. Alonso in his McLaren, however, finished 5th, which was a great result for the Spaniard. Force India´s Hulkenberg managed to overtake Rosberg on the final lap, and the German completed Force India´s success by finishing 6th. Rosberg was 7th, Sainz 8th, Button 9th and Massa 10th. It seems Red Bull is seriously challenging Ferrari in the constructors´ standings! Red Bull is now only 9 points off the Italian-based team!
I was absolutely amazed at the performance of the new ultra soft tyres in the race. Previously they had been referred to as "a qualifying tyre", but today Hamilton drove over 40 laps on those tyres! I was quite shocked, that they actually lasted that long; at the end of the day it didn´t matter, whether you had opted for ultra soft, super soft or soft tyres, because you could drive to the very end on any of those tyres!
P.S. You are welcome to read my article on the Monaco GP also here: http://sfcriga.com/monaco-gp-2016-not-so-glamorous-for-ferrari
On lap 8 the safety car came in, and the race was finally on! Ricciardo was leading the race with Rosberg second and Hamilton third. But then Renault´s Palmer hit the wall, and there was a lot of debris on the track. This time virtual safety car was deployed. The race was back on a couple of laps later. There was an intense battle going on between the Mercedes teammates. Hamilton was right at Nico´s tail, and it seemed obvious, that the Briton was faster than his teammate.
On lap 11 there was an unexpected and disappointing moment, when Kimi was going through the hair pin in almost walking speed, but had a lock-up and ended up in the wall. The crash was enough to destroy Kimi´s front wing, which got stuck under the front-left tyre of Kimi´s SF16-H and the Finn was unable to make it into the pits. It seemed to be Kimi´s mistake, which lead into his second DNF of the season. I was so gutted for the Iceman. I would have wanted to see him fighting for points in the changing conditions!
On lap 16 it finally happened: Hamilton made it past Rosberg and jumped second. It seemed as if Rosberg was having an issue with his car, because the German´s pace looked significantly slower than his teammate´s. After the overtaking move Hamilton rapidly increased the gap to his teammate into several seconds. Sebastian was the first top driver to pit for intermediate tyres. The German Ferrari driver, however, rejoined the track behind Williams´ Massa. Sebastian was clearly faster than the Brazilian, but in the narrow streets of the Principality there was no chance to get past. This cost Sebastian a lot of valuable time! Rosberg pitted on lap 21 -also for intermediate tyres. Ricciardo pitted a lap later for the same tyres. Now it was Hamilton leading the race -still on the full-wet tyres.
Red Bull´s young Verstappen had started to the race from the pit lane, but by lap 24 the Dutchman had already made it P10. His driving was so refreshing to watch; the Red Bull teenager showed, that overtaking in Monaco was possible. When there´s will, there´s way :) Hamilton pitted not until on lap 32 -not for intermediate tyres though, but a fresh set of purple-marked ultra soft tyres! What a bold move from the Briton indeed. Ricciardo pitted on the very same lap; but what a pit stop it turned out to be. The tyres weren´t ready, although Ricciardo had been called into the pits! It took 10 extra seconds, until the team got the super soft tyres on Ricciardo´s car! This unforgettable mistake enabled Hamilton to take the lead in the race! Hamilton was leading, Ricciardo second and Force India´s Perez was third.
Towards the halfway of the race Verstappen had shown phenomenal overtaking, but suddenly it took only a small mistake to end his race. Verstappen had a lock-up, he went on the damp line and ended up in the wall! Another huge disappointment for me! Monaco definitely doesn´t allow any mistakes. The glory of all the overtaking moves was suddenly gone. In the lead there was a thrilling battle going between Hamilton and Ricciardo. The Australian was putting massive pressure on the Mercedes pilot. Hamilton made a questionable move, as he cut a chicane a bit and blocked Ricciardo after that, but no penalties were warranted for this incident, although it was investigated by the stewards.
The tyre strategy varied between the top five drivers: Hamilton had ultra soft tyres, Ricciardo super softs, Perez soft tyres as well as Sebastian in P4, and Rosberg had also opted for ultra softs. On lap 50 there was drama between the Sauber teammates Nasr and Ericsson; the Brazilian was asked on the team radio to let Ericsson past, but Nasr didn´t want to obey the team order. Instead, the teammates ended up colliding with each other! There was smoke coming out of Nasr´s car, and his race was over. At this point Rosberg was down in P6. Where had Rosberg´s magical pace disappeared?
Sebastian managed to get into DRS distance from Perez, but there seemed to be no chance for overtaking really. The same implied to the battle in the lead: Ricciardo got dangerously close to Hamilton, but couldn´t challenge the Briton for the victory after the catastrophic pit stop. Which was quite a shame, as Ricciardo himself drove a flawless race and would have deserved to win! No wonder we saw an extremely disappointed Ricciardo on the podium. It´s ironic, that Red Bull gives you wings, but it doesn´t give you the tyres!
Hamilton took his second win at Monaco and decreased Rosberg´s lead in the championship standings into just 24 points. Ricciardo is now third in the standings, jumping the Ferrari duo of Räikkönen and Vettel. Perez made an amazing job today by finishing third, and the Mexican was absolutely overwhelmed with joy. Sebastian had to settle for P4 today. Alonso in his McLaren, however, finished 5th, which was a great result for the Spaniard. Force India´s Hulkenberg managed to overtake Rosberg on the final lap, and the German completed Force India´s success by finishing 6th. Rosberg was 7th, Sainz 8th, Button 9th and Massa 10th. It seems Red Bull is seriously challenging Ferrari in the constructors´ standings! Red Bull is now only 9 points off the Italian-based team!
I was absolutely amazed at the performance of the new ultra soft tyres in the race. Previously they had been referred to as "a qualifying tyre", but today Hamilton drove over 40 laps on those tyres! I was quite shocked, that they actually lasted that long; at the end of the day it didn´t matter, whether you had opted for ultra soft, super soft or soft tyres, because you could drive to the very end on any of those tyres!
P.S. You are welcome to read my article on the Monaco GP also here: http://sfcriga.com/monaco-gp-2016-not-so-glamorous-for-ferrari
lauantai 28. toukokuuta 2016
Monaco GP / Qualifying: Maiden pole for Red Bull´s Ricciardo!
Today´s qualifying in the streets of the Principality was quite eventful -and not only in a good way, when looking things from my personal point of view. Q1 was only moments old, with drivers still on their out laps, when the Ferrari engine in Nasr´s Sauber blew up exiting the tunnel. Out came the red flag, but the session resumed shortly after the marshals´ rapid clean-up job. Unfortunately this wasn´t the only red flag incident during the first segment. Red Bull´s Verstappen went over the final exit kerb in the swimming pool section and then impacted with the outer wall at Turn 16. Only a moment earlier the Dutchman had hit the inner wall of Turn 15 with his right-front wheel, damaging the track rod and leaving himself a passenger. What a disappointing moment! Verstappen had also hit the barriers in the FP3 in the morning, which shows, how rapidly the glory of winning a GP can disappear. Verstappen crashing out in Q1 was definitely something I wouldn´t have wanted to see! Especially because -in terms of pace- Red Bull seemed to continue where they left off in Spain! In Q1 Sebastian was topping the timesheets with Mercedes´ Hamilton and Rosberg two-tenths down on the German Ferrari ace. Out of Q2 were Sauber´s Ericsson, Renault´s Palmer (his teammate Magnussen made Q2) and the Manors of Haryanto and Wehrlein. However, Magnussen is under investigation for exiting the pits against a red light.
To put it shortly: Mercedes owned Q2. Hamilton put together a stunning lap, being four-tenths faster than his closest rivals Rosberg, Ricciardo and Sebastian. Kimi, on the other hand, seemed to struggle with the new ultra soft tyres especially in the second sector. Worth noting is the fact, that Red Bull´s Ricciardo set his fastest lap time on the red-marked super soft tyres, which means the Australian will start to the race on the very same tyres. At the end of the second segment Rosberg stormed to the lead; only 13 thousandths of a second separating him from his second-placed teammate. Sebastian was third and Kimi 5th. Williams´ Bottas was the first faller in Q2. Out were also his teammate Massa, both Haas drivers, McLaren´s Button and Renault´s Magnussen. The narrow streets of Monte Carlo definitely don´t suit Williams this year, either.
The beginning of Q3 was quite dramatic: Hamilton complained of no power on the pit lane, and his Mercedes was wheeled back to the pits. Once again there were technical gremlins for the reigning world champion - this time thought to be fuel-pressure related. Meantime, Red Bull´s Ricciardo put together a smashing lap and snatched the provisional pole by a one-second gap to the Ferraris! Hamilton was able to come out, when there were still 6 minutes in the clock. However, Daniel Ricciardo was utterly unstoppable today! Although the Australian was unable to improve his lap time on his second run, Rosberg had to settle for being the runner-up today. Finally Hamilton was able to jump from 10th to 3rd after his technical difficulties. Sebastian qualified 4th, being nine-tenths down on pole-setter Ricciardo! Hulkenberg in his Force India made a brilliant job by finishing 5th, and Kimi had to settle for P6 today. Nevertheless, the Iceman will face a 5-place grid drop for tomorrow´s race due to a gearbox change! Sainz was Toro Rosso´s faster runner, and the Spaniard qualified 7th, Force India´s Perez 8th, Kvyat 9th and Alonso 10th.
This was the first pole for Red Bull Racing since the Brazilian GP in 2013, and also the maiden pole for Daniel Ricciardo! Ricciardo´s pace has seemed absolutely impressive this weekend. He´s the one with the new spec Renault engine in his RB12 this weekend, whereas Verstappen has to settle for the old spec engine. Everyone is expecting to see a one-stop race in spite of the ultra soft tyres. However, Ricciardo starting on the super soft tyres, might spice up the race and make it even more interesting. Also, weather forecast says there might rain in Monaco tomorrow! The key point in Monaco is to keep away from the barriers, which is everything but easy, especially if it rains! Overtaking will be extremely difficult, so let´s see, what Sebastian will be capable of starting from P4. Kimi has it even more difficult down in P11... Not to mention Max, who will start from the very back of the grid! Nevertheless, I´m looking forward to a memorable race... hopefully dominated by the red cars with a little twist of blue ;) Forza Ferrari!
To put it shortly: Mercedes owned Q2. Hamilton put together a stunning lap, being four-tenths faster than his closest rivals Rosberg, Ricciardo and Sebastian. Kimi, on the other hand, seemed to struggle with the new ultra soft tyres especially in the second sector. Worth noting is the fact, that Red Bull´s Ricciardo set his fastest lap time on the red-marked super soft tyres, which means the Australian will start to the race on the very same tyres. At the end of the second segment Rosberg stormed to the lead; only 13 thousandths of a second separating him from his second-placed teammate. Sebastian was third and Kimi 5th. Williams´ Bottas was the first faller in Q2. Out were also his teammate Massa, both Haas drivers, McLaren´s Button and Renault´s Magnussen. The narrow streets of Monte Carlo definitely don´t suit Williams this year, either.
The beginning of Q3 was quite dramatic: Hamilton complained of no power on the pit lane, and his Mercedes was wheeled back to the pits. Once again there were technical gremlins for the reigning world champion - this time thought to be fuel-pressure related. Meantime, Red Bull´s Ricciardo put together a smashing lap and snatched the provisional pole by a one-second gap to the Ferraris! Hamilton was able to come out, when there were still 6 minutes in the clock. However, Daniel Ricciardo was utterly unstoppable today! Although the Australian was unable to improve his lap time on his second run, Rosberg had to settle for being the runner-up today. Finally Hamilton was able to jump from 10th to 3rd after his technical difficulties. Sebastian qualified 4th, being nine-tenths down on pole-setter Ricciardo! Hulkenberg in his Force India made a brilliant job by finishing 5th, and Kimi had to settle for P6 today. Nevertheless, the Iceman will face a 5-place grid drop for tomorrow´s race due to a gearbox change! Sainz was Toro Rosso´s faster runner, and the Spaniard qualified 7th, Force India´s Perez 8th, Kvyat 9th and Alonso 10th.
This was the first pole for Red Bull Racing since the Brazilian GP in 2013, and also the maiden pole for Daniel Ricciardo! Ricciardo´s pace has seemed absolutely impressive this weekend. He´s the one with the new spec Renault engine in his RB12 this weekend, whereas Verstappen has to settle for the old spec engine. Everyone is expecting to see a one-stop race in spite of the ultra soft tyres. However, Ricciardo starting on the super soft tyres, might spice up the race and make it even more interesting. Also, weather forecast says there might rain in Monaco tomorrow! The key point in Monaco is to keep away from the barriers, which is everything but easy, especially if it rains! Overtaking will be extremely difficult, so let´s see, what Sebastian will be capable of starting from P4. Kimi has it even more difficult down in P11... Not to mention Max, who will start from the very back of the grid! Nevertheless, I´m looking forward to a memorable race... hopefully dominated by the red cars with a little twist of blue ;) Forza Ferrari!
sunnuntai 15. toukokuuta 2016
Spanish GP: Unstoppable Verstappen took victory in his Red Bull debut!
What a race we saw today! My hands are still shaking and my heart is pounding... What a breath-taking afternoon this has been! No doubt the Spanish GP has been the most entertaining and exciting race for a long time!
Everything started when the lights went out. Rosberg in his Mercedes got a superb start, and the German stormed to the lead. But going into the first corner, Hamilton was determined to get past his teammate. Hamilton made a move to the outside of Rosberg, but ended up going wide, which caused the Briton to spin. Spinning Hamilton crashed into his teammate´s car, and both Mercedes drivers got stuck in the sand, and their race was over! What a turn at the beginning of the race! I guess it was only a matter of time, when something like this would happen...
Safety car was deployed. Ricciardo in his Red Bull was leading the race with his new teammate Verstappen second! Toro Rosso´s Sainz had taken a spectacular start from P8, and the Spaniard was third, right ahead the Ferrari duo of Vettel and Räikkönen. When safety car came in a couple of laps later, Sebastian started to put pressure on Sainz, and Kimi, too was right at his teammate´s tail. After a few laps of intense battle, Sebastian finally managed to get past the Spanish Toro Rosso driver and jumped third. Then it was Kimi´s turn to put pressure on Sainz, who finally had no chance to keep the Iceman behind him.
Ricciardo was the first top four driver to pit on lap 12. He opted for a fresh set of medium tyres. The young Red Bull debutant Max Verstappen was now leading the race! Both Räikkönen and Verstappen pitted on the following lap; they also opted for the white-marked medium tyres. Now it was Sebastian, who took the lead in the race. Sebastian was called into the pits on lap 16; medium tyres were his choice as well. Sebastian rejoined the track in P3 behind the Red Bulls of Ricciardo and Verstappen.
By lap 20 Sebastian had decreased the gap to Verstappen into just a second. The German seemed determined to challenge the young Dutchman for P2. On lap 22 there was suddenly smoke coming out the back of Hulkenberg´s car, and his race was over. By this time it was obvious, that the battle for victory was going to be between four drivers: the Red Bull duo and the Ferrari teammates. The top three were separated by just two seconds, and Kimi was also catching them lap by lap.
Once again it was Ricciardo, who pitted first of the top four on lap 29. This time he opted for a fresh set of soft tyres, as well as Sebastian, who pitted a lap after the Australian. Verstappen was leading the race with Kimi second, and they decided to stay on the track, which gave an indication of a different pit stop strategy. Verstappen pitted not until on lap 35, and the Dutchman opted for a fresh set of medium tyres. Ferrari reacted immediately and took Kimi in a lap later; the Iceman´s tyre choice was similar to Verstappen´s. Kimi rejoined the track in P4 behind Verstappen.
Surprisingly, Sebastian pitted for the third time on lap 38 and dropped down to P4. Race leader Ricciardo had his third pit stop on lap 44; another set of medium tyres for the last stint. Ricciardo dropped down to P4 due to his pit stop. Verstappen, who was on a two-stop strategy, was leading the race, but the Finnish Ferrari ace Kimi was only a second off the Dutchman; the Finn, too was on a two-stop strategy.
For the last 20 laps there was an intense battle going on between Max and Kimi. The Iceman was able to get into the DRS distance, but unfortunately he couldn´t follow Max close enough in the last corner, so there wasn´t any real chances for trying an overtaking move. Behind these two Ricciardo had also closed the gap to Sebastian, and the Australian seemed persistent to overtake his ex-teammate. 7 laps before the chequered flag there was a hair-raising moment in Turn 1, when Ricciardo made a move on Sebastian, but ended up going wide, so Sebastian took his position back. My heart was pounding, I was very worried, that Ricciardo could really get past Sebastian before the race was over! On the second last lap, however, Ricciardo suddenly suffered a puncture, and his fight with Sebastian was over. The Australian had to pit for a fresh set of tyres, but in spite of the pit stop, he managed to keep his 4th place.
No matter how much pressure Kimi put on Verstappen, he was simply unable to get past. Max drove an absolutely flawless race and seemed utterly determined to take his maiden win. With this win Max has rewritten the F1 history by being the youngest race leader, youngest podium scorer, youngest race winner and the first Dutchman ever to win an F1 race! What an absolutely staggering race from the 18-year-old Red Bull debutant! I feel there are no words to describe Max´s driving today, it was absolutely phenomenal! What a diamond Red Bull Racing has in Max Verstappen! Max proved it was a brilliant move from Red Bull to promote him to the team. Kimi finished the race second and Sebastian 3rd, so it was a dream podium from my point of view! It was so touching to see all my three favourites up on the podium celebrating and spraying champagne.
Ricciardo had to settle for P4, which must have been a disappointment for him. Williams´ Bottas finished 5th, Sainz 6th, Perez 7th, Massa 8th, Button 9th and Kvyat 10th. Due to the first-corner incident of the Mercedes teammates, Kimi is now second in the drivers´ championship standings, 39 points down on Rosberg. Hamilton is now 4 points off Kimi. Since Mercedes scored zero points today, Ferrari is now "only" 48 points off Mercedes, but Red Bull is also decreasing the gap to Ferrari. Red Bull has now 94 points to Ferrari´s 109.
Verstappen has got a dream start to his career in the new team. A win in the first race for the new team must have been more than he ever dreamed of. Now it´s all about keeping his feet firmly on the ground and not let the success get into his head. I´m so so happy for this young man! He reminds me of Sebastian Vettel and his first years at Red Bull... I clearly have a new idol!
P.S. You can read my thoughts on the Spanish GP also on Scuderia Ferrari Club Riga´s web site: http://sfcriga.com/spanish-gp-2016-both-ferrari-aces-on-the-podium
Everything started when the lights went out. Rosberg in his Mercedes got a superb start, and the German stormed to the lead. But going into the first corner, Hamilton was determined to get past his teammate. Hamilton made a move to the outside of Rosberg, but ended up going wide, which caused the Briton to spin. Spinning Hamilton crashed into his teammate´s car, and both Mercedes drivers got stuck in the sand, and their race was over! What a turn at the beginning of the race! I guess it was only a matter of time, when something like this would happen...
Safety car was deployed. Ricciardo in his Red Bull was leading the race with his new teammate Verstappen second! Toro Rosso´s Sainz had taken a spectacular start from P8, and the Spaniard was third, right ahead the Ferrari duo of Vettel and Räikkönen. When safety car came in a couple of laps later, Sebastian started to put pressure on Sainz, and Kimi, too was right at his teammate´s tail. After a few laps of intense battle, Sebastian finally managed to get past the Spanish Toro Rosso driver and jumped third. Then it was Kimi´s turn to put pressure on Sainz, who finally had no chance to keep the Iceman behind him.
Ricciardo was the first top four driver to pit on lap 12. He opted for a fresh set of medium tyres. The young Red Bull debutant Max Verstappen was now leading the race! Both Räikkönen and Verstappen pitted on the following lap; they also opted for the white-marked medium tyres. Now it was Sebastian, who took the lead in the race. Sebastian was called into the pits on lap 16; medium tyres were his choice as well. Sebastian rejoined the track in P3 behind the Red Bulls of Ricciardo and Verstappen.
By lap 20 Sebastian had decreased the gap to Verstappen into just a second. The German seemed determined to challenge the young Dutchman for P2. On lap 22 there was suddenly smoke coming out the back of Hulkenberg´s car, and his race was over. By this time it was obvious, that the battle for victory was going to be between four drivers: the Red Bull duo and the Ferrari teammates. The top three were separated by just two seconds, and Kimi was also catching them lap by lap.
Once again it was Ricciardo, who pitted first of the top four on lap 29. This time he opted for a fresh set of soft tyres, as well as Sebastian, who pitted a lap after the Australian. Verstappen was leading the race with Kimi second, and they decided to stay on the track, which gave an indication of a different pit stop strategy. Verstappen pitted not until on lap 35, and the Dutchman opted for a fresh set of medium tyres. Ferrari reacted immediately and took Kimi in a lap later; the Iceman´s tyre choice was similar to Verstappen´s. Kimi rejoined the track in P4 behind Verstappen.
Surprisingly, Sebastian pitted for the third time on lap 38 and dropped down to P4. Race leader Ricciardo had his third pit stop on lap 44; another set of medium tyres for the last stint. Ricciardo dropped down to P4 due to his pit stop. Verstappen, who was on a two-stop strategy, was leading the race, but the Finnish Ferrari ace Kimi was only a second off the Dutchman; the Finn, too was on a two-stop strategy.
For the last 20 laps there was an intense battle going on between Max and Kimi. The Iceman was able to get into the DRS distance, but unfortunately he couldn´t follow Max close enough in the last corner, so there wasn´t any real chances for trying an overtaking move. Behind these two Ricciardo had also closed the gap to Sebastian, and the Australian seemed persistent to overtake his ex-teammate. 7 laps before the chequered flag there was a hair-raising moment in Turn 1, when Ricciardo made a move on Sebastian, but ended up going wide, so Sebastian took his position back. My heart was pounding, I was very worried, that Ricciardo could really get past Sebastian before the race was over! On the second last lap, however, Ricciardo suddenly suffered a puncture, and his fight with Sebastian was over. The Australian had to pit for a fresh set of tyres, but in spite of the pit stop, he managed to keep his 4th place.
No matter how much pressure Kimi put on Verstappen, he was simply unable to get past. Max drove an absolutely flawless race and seemed utterly determined to take his maiden win. With this win Max has rewritten the F1 history by being the youngest race leader, youngest podium scorer, youngest race winner and the first Dutchman ever to win an F1 race! What an absolutely staggering race from the 18-year-old Red Bull debutant! I feel there are no words to describe Max´s driving today, it was absolutely phenomenal! What a diamond Red Bull Racing has in Max Verstappen! Max proved it was a brilliant move from Red Bull to promote him to the team. Kimi finished the race second and Sebastian 3rd, so it was a dream podium from my point of view! It was so touching to see all my three favourites up on the podium celebrating and spraying champagne.
Ricciardo had to settle for P4, which must have been a disappointment for him. Williams´ Bottas finished 5th, Sainz 6th, Perez 7th, Massa 8th, Button 9th and Kvyat 10th. Due to the first-corner incident of the Mercedes teammates, Kimi is now second in the drivers´ championship standings, 39 points down on Rosberg. Hamilton is now 4 points off Kimi. Since Mercedes scored zero points today, Ferrari is now "only" 48 points off Mercedes, but Red Bull is also decreasing the gap to Ferrari. Red Bull has now 94 points to Ferrari´s 109.
Verstappen has got a dream start to his career in the new team. A win in the first race for the new team must have been more than he ever dreamed of. Now it´s all about keeping his feet firmly on the ground and not let the success get into his head. I´m so so happy for this young man! He reminds me of Sebastian Vettel and his first years at Red Bull... I clearly have a new idol!
P.S. You can read my thoughts on the Spanish GP also on Scuderia Ferrari Club Riga´s web site: http://sfcriga.com/spanish-gp-2016-both-ferrari-aces-on-the-podium
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