I got home from the summer cottage right on time to see the start. Hamilton started to the race from P20. The Briton had been handed a 5-place grid penalty due to a gearbox change, which meant he was dropped from P16 to P21 but since Sauber´s Gutierrez had also got, a grid penalty due to his collision at Silverstone it was P20 for Hamilton. Rosberg could easily maintain his lead at the start but behind the German the first corner was very eventful. Magnussen in his McLaren collided with Massa at the wheel of his Williams, which caused Massa´s Williams to flow over and the Brazilian´s race was over! Another very frustrating DNF for Massa and really not the first one this season. Magnussen on the other hand was able to continue the race. Safety car was deployed but it came in only a couple of laps later and the race was back on.
By this time Hamilton had already made his way up from P20 to P14 and the Briton´s pace was almost timitating! Hamilton had no difficulties to overtake his rivals and snatch position by position. Bottas drove in P2 but it soon became obvious that the Finn had no chance to match Rosberg´s pace. Kimi at the wheel of his F14T had been able to jump a few positions at the start but on lap 13 the Iceman lost an end plate of his front wing when Hamilton passed him. This damage influenced significantly Kimi´s race from then on in terms of tyre management. Only a couple of later Kimi lost another piece of his front wing as he got hit by Vettel when both Vettel and Alonso overtook the Finn after their pit stops.
Kimi had started to the race on the yellow-marked soft tyres whilst all other top drivers (except Hamilton) had started on the supersofts. This meant Kimi pitted some laps later than his rivals. After his pit stop Kimi showed some impressive overtaking moves as he passed Sutil, Grosjean, Perez and Vergne. At this point it seemed that this could turn out to be a decent race for Kimi... At the halfway point of the race there were pieces flying from Hamilton´s front wing as he attacked to overtake Button in his McLaren but couldn´t avoid hitting his fellow countryman. Hamilton was clearly on a hunt: he was absolutely determined to make it to the 2nd place.
Ferrari had obviously planned a 2-stop strategy for Kimi but on lap 34 Kimi told on the team radio in a very firm voice that "We have to stop now, we have to stop now, the front tyres are gone!" There was a dramatic moment on lap 46 as Kvyat´s Toro Rosso suddenly caught fire and there were huge flames coming from the back of the Russian´s car! Luckily Kvyat managed to get quickly out of his car. Another incident occurred only a few laps later when Sutil in his Sauber lost control of his car and span on the main straight but no safety car was deployed in spite of the fact that the car was in the middle of the main straight.
When there were 10 laps to go Rosberg was leading the race out of everybody else´s reach. Bottas at the wheel of his FW36 was second, Hamilton 3rd, Vettel 4th, Alonso 5th and Ricciardo 6th. Hamilton started storming closer and closer to Bottas on a fresh set of supersoft tyres. When there were only a few seconds between Hamilton and Bottas Hamilton was told on the team radio that Bottas should be an easy catch. I considered that quite an arrogant comment from the Mercedes team... It turned out that it was easy for Hamilton to close the gap to Bottas but overtaking the flying Finn was a whole different thing! There was also another intense wheel-banging battle going on as Ricciardo in his Red Bull and Alonso in his Ferrari fought for the fifth place. Finally Alonso managed to overtake the Australian and take the 5th place.
Rosberg took a dominant win on his home soil which was the first time when a German driver in a German car won on the German soil since the 1930´s so a historical race in that regard! Hamilton was unable to make any overtaking move on Bottas, who drove an absolutely impressive race finishing 2nd! And this time he actually beat one of the Mercedes cars by driving, not due to a technical failure! Bottas is going through staggering momentum at the moment and this was already the third podium in a row for the young and lightning-fast Finn! Hamilton ended up 3rd, which can also be considered quite an achievement in terms of his starting position... Vettel finished 4th, which was a very decent job from the German in front of his home crowd but naturally I would have preferred to see him on the podium! Alonso finished 5th, Ricciardo 6th (finally Sebastian finished the race ahead of his team-mate although Ricciardo lost many positions on the opening lap due to the Massa-Magnussen incident), Hulkenberg 7th, Button 8th, Magnussen 9th and Perez 10th. Kimi had a very frustrating race and the Iceman finished 11th. Not exactly the result I wanted to see...
So at the moment Rosberg has a 14-point lead in the championship standings over his team-mate Hamilton. Ricciardo is now 3rd but he´s already 84 points off Rosberg! The battle continues already next weekend when it´s time for the Hungarian GP before the summer break. Can´t wait to see Kimi and Sebastian back in action again.
Kimi Räikkönen & Sebastian Vettel
sunnuntai 20. heinäkuuta 2014
German GP/ Qualifying: Bottas got close but Rosberg snatched pole!
This has been a different F1 weekend for me as I was unable to watch the qualifying live on TV! I'm spending the weekend at a summer cottage by a lake where I've spent all summers when I was a kid. So it has been a weekend filled with enjoying the sun and swimming in the lake! And of course keeping myself updated of all the Formula 1 news via Facebook and Twitter!
I watched the qualifying later on in the evening when it was shown on TV as a replay. Q1 was very dramatic indeed as Hamilton faced a brake failure suddenly at turn 13 and the Briton crashed to the barrier! His front right brake disc broke and the crash meant that Hamilton's qualifying was over when there were 7minutes left in the clock! What a devastating qualifying for Hamilton once again! The recent races have shown that Mercedes aren't as invulnerable as previously thought! The second runs were made on the supersofts and Rosberg topped the timesheets followed by the Red Bull duo Ricciardo and Vettel. Sutil in his Sauber was the first driver to be knocked out of Q2.
Q2 had some dramatic turns as well. I was a bit worried when I saw Vettel driving all four wheels off track at the final corner as not respecting the track limits had been an issue in the last couple of races! Luckily at Hockenheim the stewards didn't penalize for that as there was no clear advantage gained for that. Rosberg was the fastest man in the second session but both Williams drivers were right at the German's tail! I was happy about Williams' pace but absolutely devastated to see that Kimi was out of the final session! The Iceman's weekend had been all but problem-free: the Finn had faced issues with water pump and gas pump already in the free practice sessions. His team-mate Alonso on the other hand was able to make it among the ten fastest! I'm starting to feel desperate because of all these problems that Kimi keeps facing every race weekend! Though Kimi wasn't the only world champion to be knocked out of Q3: also Button in his McLaren didn't manage to make it into the decisive last session! Button qualified 11th and Kimi 12th.
Q3 was business as usual. The only surprise was the fact how much Williams had been able to decrease the gap to Mercedes! Rosberg did conquer pole once again but the Finnish Williams driver Bottas made an astonishing lap and was only two tenths of a second behind Rosberg! His team-mate Massa couldn't quite match Bottas' pace and the Brazilian qualified 3rd being a few tenths slower than his team-mate. McLaren's Magnussen took surprising P4. What was really disappointing was that Ricciardo once again outqualified his team-mate! Ricciardo qualified 5th whilst Vettel ended up 6th. Sebastian had had promising pace in the previous sessions but in Q3 the German couldn't pull together a perfect lap. Alonso in his Ferrari qualified 7th, Kvyat in his Toro Rosso 8th and the Force India duo Hulkenberg and Perez completed the top ten.
The race this afternoon might turn out to be really interesting one as weather forecast has predicted possible thunderstorm during the race! One thing I'm sure about: this time the Williams duo can seriously challenge Rosberg for the win! Although the FRIC suspension systems have been removed from all cars it hasn't effected the pecking order in any significant way. Hamilton's fate in terms of his starting position still maintains unclear. Mercedes will change his brake supplier due to the brake disc failure which normally would cause him a penalty and the Briton would have to start to the race from the pit lane. On the other hand Hamilton's brake issue is clearly a safety issue so there might be no penalty by the FIA on the safetygrounds. On the other hand there have been talks about a gear box change for Hamilton as well, which would automatically lead to a 5-place grid drop. So let's see what happens in terms of Hamilton as the start approaches... I do hope to see both Kimi and Sebastian jumping positions already at the start! And to be honest, I really wouldn't mind if I saw Bottas winning the race and standing on the top step of the podium ;)n TV
Now I'll jump into the lake and enjoy swimming before heading home to watch the race live on TV!
I watched the qualifying later on in the evening when it was shown on TV as a replay. Q1 was very dramatic indeed as Hamilton faced a brake failure suddenly at turn 13 and the Briton crashed to the barrier! His front right brake disc broke and the crash meant that Hamilton's qualifying was over when there were 7minutes left in the clock! What a devastating qualifying for Hamilton once again! The recent races have shown that Mercedes aren't as invulnerable as previously thought! The second runs were made on the supersofts and Rosberg topped the timesheets followed by the Red Bull duo Ricciardo and Vettel. Sutil in his Sauber was the first driver to be knocked out of Q2.
Q2 had some dramatic turns as well. I was a bit worried when I saw Vettel driving all four wheels off track at the final corner as not respecting the track limits had been an issue in the last couple of races! Luckily at Hockenheim the stewards didn't penalize for that as there was no clear advantage gained for that. Rosberg was the fastest man in the second session but both Williams drivers were right at the German's tail! I was happy about Williams' pace but absolutely devastated to see that Kimi was out of the final session! The Iceman's weekend had been all but problem-free: the Finn had faced issues with water pump and gas pump already in the free practice sessions. His team-mate Alonso on the other hand was able to make it among the ten fastest! I'm starting to feel desperate because of all these problems that Kimi keeps facing every race weekend! Though Kimi wasn't the only world champion to be knocked out of Q3: also Button in his McLaren didn't manage to make it into the decisive last session! Button qualified 11th and Kimi 12th.
Q3 was business as usual. The only surprise was the fact how much Williams had been able to decrease the gap to Mercedes! Rosberg did conquer pole once again but the Finnish Williams driver Bottas made an astonishing lap and was only two tenths of a second behind Rosberg! His team-mate Massa couldn't quite match Bottas' pace and the Brazilian qualified 3rd being a few tenths slower than his team-mate. McLaren's Magnussen took surprising P4. What was really disappointing was that Ricciardo once again outqualified his team-mate! Ricciardo qualified 5th whilst Vettel ended up 6th. Sebastian had had promising pace in the previous sessions but in Q3 the German couldn't pull together a perfect lap. Alonso in his Ferrari qualified 7th, Kvyat in his Toro Rosso 8th and the Force India duo Hulkenberg and Perez completed the top ten.
The race this afternoon might turn out to be really interesting one as weather forecast has predicted possible thunderstorm during the race! One thing I'm sure about: this time the Williams duo can seriously challenge Rosberg for the win! Although the FRIC suspension systems have been removed from all cars it hasn't effected the pecking order in any significant way. Hamilton's fate in terms of his starting position still maintains unclear. Mercedes will change his brake supplier due to the brake disc failure which normally would cause him a penalty and the Briton would have to start to the race from the pit lane. On the other hand Hamilton's brake issue is clearly a safety issue so there might be no penalty by the FIA on the safetygrounds. On the other hand there have been talks about a gear box change for Hamilton as well, which would automatically lead to a 5-place grid drop. So let's see what happens in terms of Hamilton as the start approaches... I do hope to see both Kimi and Sebastian jumping positions already at the start! And to be honest, I really wouldn't mind if I saw Bottas winning the race and standing on the top step of the podium ;)n TV
Now I'll jump into the lake and enjoy swimming before heading home to watch the race live on TV!
sunnuntai 6. heinäkuuta 2014
British GP: Hamilton reduced Rosberg´s lead to just four points!
Usually it´s the weather that makes the British grand prix entertaining and eventful. This time weather conditions stayed dry the whole race but in spite of that the race turned out to be a very dramatic one! When the lights went out Rosberg stormed to the first corner in the lead. Vettel at the wheel of his RB10 on the other hand had a poor start and the German lost three positions right away. My heart jumped into my mouth the first time when Vettel banged wheels with Alonso but luckily there was no damage to either one of the cars. Already on the opening lap the race took a dramatic turn, which made my heart jump into my mouth again: Kimi in his Ferrari went off track and when the Iceman tried to rejoin the track he hit a bump, lost control of his F14T and struck the inside barrier. Kimi´s car was then thrown back across the track causing him to crash Felipe Massa´s FW36. Kimi´s crash looked really nasty as the F14T was wrecked badly. Kimi was able to get out of his car on his own force but limped away from his car. Luckily Massa reacted so rapidly to the incident , otherwise the damage to both cars could have been even worse. However, Massa´s car was too badly damaged and the Brasilian´s race was over. The safety car was deployed immediately but on lap 2 the race was red flagged due to the damage to the guardrails.
The delay took as long as an hour before the guardrail was finally repaired and the re-start could take place behind the safety car. Hamilton had made his way up to P4 on the opening laps and the Finnish Williams driver Valtteri Bottas had also made his way from P14 up to P9. At this point it was difficult for me to concentrate on the re-start as there had been no announcement if Kimi had been hurt in the incident. I was so worried about him. A crash like that was the thing that I least wanted to see in the race! Luckily it was soon announced that Kimi had a bruised ankle but otherwise he was reported to be ok! This piece of news helped me to focus on the race again. It was also touching to hear that Kimi´s first message on the team radio after his crash had been: "Is Massa okay?" The Iceman doesn´t talk much but when he speaks, he says the things that matter the most.
When the safety car came in we got to see an awesome overtaking show by Williams´ Bottas! His pace turned out to be lightning-fast and by lap 5 the Finn had made his way up to P6 by passing both Red Bull´s Ricciardo and Force India´s Hulkenberg. Hamilton also stormed towards the lead by easily overtaking both McLaren drivers. On lap 10 there was another crash: this time involving the Sauber driver Gutierrez and Lotus´ Maldonado. Gutierrez crashed to Maldonado´s E22 which caused the Venezuelan´s car spectacularly flip in the air. After the race Gutierrez was considered to be at fault and the Mexican was handed a 3-place grid penalty for the German GP. Alonso was handed a 5-second penalty due to overshooting his grid slot at the first start.
Bottas was able to make his way past both Magnussen and Button and the Finn was already in P3! Who could have thought that was possible after such a devastating qualifying yesterday... On lap 20 we heard Rosberg telling on the team radio that he had difficulties in down-shifting. In spite of that the German managed to set the fastest lap time! However, Rosberg´s gear box problem turned out to get worse lap by lap and on lap 29 the German had to stop the car on track and his race was over! His team-mate Hamilton immediately snatched the lead and there was no one who could threaten the Briton´s victory in front of his home crowd!
Pit stop strategy was a key factor today. Hamilton in the lead could easily afford pitting twice and still maintain his lead. But Bottas in P2 pitted only once and so did Ricciardo, Button and Alonso as well whilst Vettel in his Red Bull had a two-stop strategy! When Vettel rejoined the track after his second pit stop Alonso managed to overtake him on the out-lap. This turned out to be a nerve-wrecking battle between the two world champions! Sebastian was clearly determined to get past Alonso and take his position back. In addition to the battle on track it also turned out to be a battle on the team radio: both drivers were complaining about the other one not respecting the track limits. After the race Sebastian admitted that it got a bit silly because they were both childishly complaining about each other. The battle was entertaining for sure and several laps later Sebastian was finally able to overtake Alonso! Wow, that was real racing!
Hamilton drove to the chequered flag as the winner and at the same time reduced his team-mate´s lead in the championship to just four points. Bottas at the wheel of his FW36 finished in P2 for the very first time in his career, which was a fabulous achievement indeed! Ricciardo in his Red Bull was barely able to finish 3rd on his dying tyres and Button in his McLaren was only 8 tenths of a second behind the Australian at the chequered flag. Only a lap more and Button could possibly have overtaken Ricciardo... Sebastian finished 5th and Alonso 6th (Magnussen 7th, Hulkenberg 8th, Kvyat 9th and Vergne 10th). I have to admit that I was disappointed to see Sebastian finishing 5th. Starting from P2 I expected something more. But 2-stop strategy was clearly the wrong call today so once again Ricciardo managed to finish ahead of his team-mate... But I truly enjoyed watching Sebastian racing today, it was real racing with passion but with respect towards his rival!
So now the battle for the championship gets really interesting as there´re only 4 points separating the Mercedes team-mates in the standings. Ricciardo is now 3rd in the standings and Bottas has already made his way up to P5. Bottas´ performance made me happy today, he´s certainly a driver who we´ll hear a lot from in the near future! I hope the talented Finn is having a cracker of a party at the moment, he and his team totally deserve it! And like I said, I enjoyed watching Sebastian´s wheel-banging racing and listening to the childish team radio messages, which make him so human. But still, I keep wondering how Kimi is doing at the moment. I hope his ankle is fine and the Iceman can take part in the German GP in a fortnight. These accidents are so scary. They keep reminding me that there´s only a narrow line between life and a serious injury, even death.
The delay took as long as an hour before the guardrail was finally repaired and the re-start could take place behind the safety car. Hamilton had made his way up to P4 on the opening laps and the Finnish Williams driver Valtteri Bottas had also made his way from P14 up to P9. At this point it was difficult for me to concentrate on the re-start as there had been no announcement if Kimi had been hurt in the incident. I was so worried about him. A crash like that was the thing that I least wanted to see in the race! Luckily it was soon announced that Kimi had a bruised ankle but otherwise he was reported to be ok! This piece of news helped me to focus on the race again. It was also touching to hear that Kimi´s first message on the team radio after his crash had been: "Is Massa okay?" The Iceman doesn´t talk much but when he speaks, he says the things that matter the most.
When the safety car came in we got to see an awesome overtaking show by Williams´ Bottas! His pace turned out to be lightning-fast and by lap 5 the Finn had made his way up to P6 by passing both Red Bull´s Ricciardo and Force India´s Hulkenberg. Hamilton also stormed towards the lead by easily overtaking both McLaren drivers. On lap 10 there was another crash: this time involving the Sauber driver Gutierrez and Lotus´ Maldonado. Gutierrez crashed to Maldonado´s E22 which caused the Venezuelan´s car spectacularly flip in the air. After the race Gutierrez was considered to be at fault and the Mexican was handed a 3-place grid penalty for the German GP. Alonso was handed a 5-second penalty due to overshooting his grid slot at the first start.
Bottas was able to make his way past both Magnussen and Button and the Finn was already in P3! Who could have thought that was possible after such a devastating qualifying yesterday... On lap 20 we heard Rosberg telling on the team radio that he had difficulties in down-shifting. In spite of that the German managed to set the fastest lap time! However, Rosberg´s gear box problem turned out to get worse lap by lap and on lap 29 the German had to stop the car on track and his race was over! His team-mate Hamilton immediately snatched the lead and there was no one who could threaten the Briton´s victory in front of his home crowd!
Pit stop strategy was a key factor today. Hamilton in the lead could easily afford pitting twice and still maintain his lead. But Bottas in P2 pitted only once and so did Ricciardo, Button and Alonso as well whilst Vettel in his Red Bull had a two-stop strategy! When Vettel rejoined the track after his second pit stop Alonso managed to overtake him on the out-lap. This turned out to be a nerve-wrecking battle between the two world champions! Sebastian was clearly determined to get past Alonso and take his position back. In addition to the battle on track it also turned out to be a battle on the team radio: both drivers were complaining about the other one not respecting the track limits. After the race Sebastian admitted that it got a bit silly because they were both childishly complaining about each other. The battle was entertaining for sure and several laps later Sebastian was finally able to overtake Alonso! Wow, that was real racing!
Hamilton drove to the chequered flag as the winner and at the same time reduced his team-mate´s lead in the championship to just four points. Bottas at the wheel of his FW36 finished in P2 for the very first time in his career, which was a fabulous achievement indeed! Ricciardo in his Red Bull was barely able to finish 3rd on his dying tyres and Button in his McLaren was only 8 tenths of a second behind the Australian at the chequered flag. Only a lap more and Button could possibly have overtaken Ricciardo... Sebastian finished 5th and Alonso 6th (Magnussen 7th, Hulkenberg 8th, Kvyat 9th and Vergne 10th). I have to admit that I was disappointed to see Sebastian finishing 5th. Starting from P2 I expected something more. But 2-stop strategy was clearly the wrong call today so once again Ricciardo managed to finish ahead of his team-mate... But I truly enjoyed watching Sebastian racing today, it was real racing with passion but with respect towards his rival!
So now the battle for the championship gets really interesting as there´re only 4 points separating the Mercedes team-mates in the standings. Ricciardo is now 3rd in the standings and Bottas has already made his way up to P5. Bottas´ performance made me happy today, he´s certainly a driver who we´ll hear a lot from in the near future! I hope the talented Finn is having a cracker of a party at the moment, he and his team totally deserve it! And like I said, I enjoyed watching Sebastian´s wheel-banging racing and listening to the childish team radio messages, which make him so human. But still, I keep wondering how Kimi is doing at the moment. I hope his ankle is fine and the Iceman can take part in the German GP in a fortnight. These accidents are so scary. They keep reminding me that there´s only a narrow line between life and a serious injury, even death.
British GP/ Qualifying: Finally a front row grid slot for Vettel!
Usually weather tends to be a major factor when F1 circus arrives in Silverstone and it didn't let us down this year, either! The track was damp when qualifying got underway so everyone started to Q1 on the intermediate tyres. The track improved, however, so at the end of the session everyone went out on the soft tyres, which in Silverstone meant the white-marked medium tyres. The rain started again at the very end of the first session, which lead to some nasty surprises in regard of some drivers. Both Williams drivers were out of Q2! This must have been a huge disappointment for Bottas, who stood on the podium just two weeks ago! Also both Ferrari drivers were unable to set lap times fast enough to make it into Q2. I was so so gutted for Kimi! He has been struggling with his F14T the whole season and more disappointments seem to be coming all the time... Ferrari should have done a better job in terms of the timing. So easy for me to sit on the sofa and write this, haha ;) Vettel was also on edge as he was the last driver to get into Q2! Some positive surprises then: due to the poor timing of both Williams and Ferrari, both Marussia drivers made it through to Q2 with Chilton being 6th fastest in Q1, wow!
Q2 got underway in wet conditions so at the beginning the intermediate tyres were the right call. Sebastian managed to pull out a splendid lap but his lap time was deleted only a moment later due to a track limits violation at turn 9. Like in the first session the track improved all the time and at the end of Q2 it was time for the soft tyres. The Mercedes duo topped the timesheets and Sebastian was third fastest with a 1,5-second gap to Hamilton. No major surprises in this session: both Lotus drivers were out of Q3 as well as the Marussia duo. But Bianchi qualified 12th, which was quite impressive! His team-mate Chilton qualified 13th but he will be dropped five positions due to a gear box change. Sauber's Gutierrez span and got stuck on the gravel when there was only a minute left in the clock so the Mexican's qualifying was over.
The track was dry when it was time for the final and crucial session. Because nobody seemed to know for sure if it was going to rain more or not, everyone headed out right at the beginning. But Sebastian aborted his flying lap and didn't set a lap time! And a moment later we heard messages on the team radios about rain at some areas of the circuit... At this point I was afraid that Sebastian's "goose was cooked": there was no way he could set a competitive lap time if it was raining! Ricciardo didn't even go out at the end of the session and so didn't the Toro Rosso drivers Kvyat and Vergne. But what an outstanding and miraculous turn the qualifying got in the last minutes! Hamilton had the provisional pole and actually the Briton decided to abort his last flying lap for some reason and came in the pits instead. It turned out that in spite of the rain in some areas the last sector had improved unbelievably much! I watched closely Sebastian's last run and after sector two the German was 2,6 seconds down on Hamilton's time! I was prepared to give up: Sebastian wasn't going to make it on the front row or anywhere near it. But I couldn't believe my eyes when Sebastian crossed the finish line and made it in P1! He had stormed through the final sector, which had improved in a way many thought wasn't possible! Absolutely amazing! Though Rosberg managed to set even a second faster lap time, I was so delighted for Sebastian's P2 :) McLaren's Button drove impressively well in front of his home crowd and made it in P3! Force India's Hulkenberg qualified in P4 and Magnussen in the other McLaren in P5. Hamilton who had made the call to abort his second run was left in P6 so this turned out to be a very wrong call indeed! Perez in the other Force India qualified 7th, Sebastian's team-mate Ricciardo 8th, Kvyat 9th and Vergne 10th. Finally Sebastian managed to outqualify his team-mate, I was sooo happy!
In addition to Chilton's penalty there've been other penalties as well. Gutierrez faced a 10-place grid drop due to the unsafe release from the pits at Austria. Both Caterham drivers got permission to take part in the race although their lap times exceeded the 107 % time.
What kind of a race am I expecting? A mixed one for sure! The British weather can be anything from sunshine to pouring rain! So there might be some big surprises in the race as well. I don't think Sebastian has a real chance to challenge Rosberg for the victory but I'm confident I'll see Sebastian on the podium today! Unless there'll be some technical issues... But they can't hit Sebastian's car in EVERY race, can they? But I don't know what kind of a result would be realistic to hope from Kimi. Even a points finish seems hard to achieve at least in normal conditions. But I know the Iceman will fight as hard as he can to make his way through the field! And although Hamilton starts from P6 he has his say in the battle for victory! The Briton started from P9 at Austria and in a couple of laps he had made his way up to fourth. I'm sure after the wrong decision in the qualifying Hamilton will be extra motivated to show what he's capable of in the race in front of his home crowd! By the way... I had a very nice dream about Kimi last night. Hope it's a good omen ;)
Q2 got underway in wet conditions so at the beginning the intermediate tyres were the right call. Sebastian managed to pull out a splendid lap but his lap time was deleted only a moment later due to a track limits violation at turn 9. Like in the first session the track improved all the time and at the end of Q2 it was time for the soft tyres. The Mercedes duo topped the timesheets and Sebastian was third fastest with a 1,5-second gap to Hamilton. No major surprises in this session: both Lotus drivers were out of Q3 as well as the Marussia duo. But Bianchi qualified 12th, which was quite impressive! His team-mate Chilton qualified 13th but he will be dropped five positions due to a gear box change. Sauber's Gutierrez span and got stuck on the gravel when there was only a minute left in the clock so the Mexican's qualifying was over.
The track was dry when it was time for the final and crucial session. Because nobody seemed to know for sure if it was going to rain more or not, everyone headed out right at the beginning. But Sebastian aborted his flying lap and didn't set a lap time! And a moment later we heard messages on the team radios about rain at some areas of the circuit... At this point I was afraid that Sebastian's "goose was cooked": there was no way he could set a competitive lap time if it was raining! Ricciardo didn't even go out at the end of the session and so didn't the Toro Rosso drivers Kvyat and Vergne. But what an outstanding and miraculous turn the qualifying got in the last minutes! Hamilton had the provisional pole and actually the Briton decided to abort his last flying lap for some reason and came in the pits instead. It turned out that in spite of the rain in some areas the last sector had improved unbelievably much! I watched closely Sebastian's last run and after sector two the German was 2,6 seconds down on Hamilton's time! I was prepared to give up: Sebastian wasn't going to make it on the front row or anywhere near it. But I couldn't believe my eyes when Sebastian crossed the finish line and made it in P1! He had stormed through the final sector, which had improved in a way many thought wasn't possible! Absolutely amazing! Though Rosberg managed to set even a second faster lap time, I was so delighted for Sebastian's P2 :) McLaren's Button drove impressively well in front of his home crowd and made it in P3! Force India's Hulkenberg qualified in P4 and Magnussen in the other McLaren in P5. Hamilton who had made the call to abort his second run was left in P6 so this turned out to be a very wrong call indeed! Perez in the other Force India qualified 7th, Sebastian's team-mate Ricciardo 8th, Kvyat 9th and Vergne 10th. Finally Sebastian managed to outqualify his team-mate, I was sooo happy!
In addition to Chilton's penalty there've been other penalties as well. Gutierrez faced a 10-place grid drop due to the unsafe release from the pits at Austria. Both Caterham drivers got permission to take part in the race although their lap times exceeded the 107 % time.
What kind of a race am I expecting? A mixed one for sure! The British weather can be anything from sunshine to pouring rain! So there might be some big surprises in the race as well. I don't think Sebastian has a real chance to challenge Rosberg for the victory but I'm confident I'll see Sebastian on the podium today! Unless there'll be some technical issues... But they can't hit Sebastian's car in EVERY race, can they? But I don't know what kind of a result would be realistic to hope from Kimi. Even a points finish seems hard to achieve at least in normal conditions. But I know the Iceman will fight as hard as he can to make his way through the field! And although Hamilton starts from P6 he has his say in the battle for victory! The Briton started from P9 at Austria and in a couple of laps he had made his way up to fourth. I'm sure after the wrong decision in the qualifying Hamilton will be extra motivated to show what he's capable of in the race in front of his home crowd! By the way... I had a very nice dream about Kimi last night. Hope it's a good omen ;)
sunnuntai 22. kesäkuuta 2014
Austrian GP: First ever podium finish for Bottas and 6th 1-2 for Mercedes AMG!
The start of the Austrian GP was absolutely thrilling. Surprisingly Massa in his Williams was able to maintain his lead. His team-mate Bottas lost his 2nd place for Rosberg but only for a moment as by turn 2 the Finn had snatched his position back from the Mercedes driver. Hamilton took a splendid start from P9 jumping four positions up to P5! At the start of the race it really seemed that Williams could finally match Mercedes´ race pace. Sebastian at the wheel of his RB10 on the other hand had a catastrophic start to the race. On lap 2 the German reported on the team radio that he had no drive so his race was ruined! All of a sudden he got the drive back but at that point it was too late: the quadruple world champion was already one lap down!
Luckily Kimi had gained a position at the start and the Iceman was driving in P7. The battle for victory looked extremely intense: the top 4 drivers Massa, Bottas, Rosberg and Hamilton were all within DRS distance with each other. Rosberg was the first one of them to pit for a fresh set of soft tyres on lap 12. After the first pit stop Bottas rejoined the track right behind Rosberg but ahead of Hamilton. Massa was the one who lost most during his pit stop as he dropped back to P5. Force India´s Perez was leading the race at this point as the Mexican had a different tyre strategy and hadn´t pitted yet.
Perez pitted not until on lap 30 and the battle for victory intensified between Rosberg, Bottas and Hamilton. Massa wasn´t able to quite match the pace of those three. At this point it seemed that Bottas could really challenge the Mercedes drivers as his pace looked so promising. And Mercedes didn´t seem to have a problem-free race this time, either but again they faced some brake issues. At the halfway point of the race Sebastian´s race turned pitch-black: at the back of the field he tried to overtake Sauber´s Gutierrez and ended up damaging his front wing. A moment later Sebastian was told to come to the pits as there was no sense continueing the race. Considering the fact that Sebastian won´t probably get through the season with only 5 power units anyway this was the only right call to be made. I felt so gutted for Sebastian! Won´t these problems ever end? To be honest, Red Bull was lacking performance so badly at Red Bull Ring! I wanted to see Sebastian fighting for points today but all those hopes vanished already at the beginning of the race.
The second pit stop was a turning point for Bottas. It didn´t go perfectly in terms of timing and the Finn rejoined the track behind Rosberg and Hamilton. At this point it became obvious that the fight for the victory was going to be between the Mercedes team-mates as Bottas had already a several-second gap to the Mercedes duo. Kimi on the other hand faced another difficult race. The Iceman was driving in P11 and we got to hear some team radio communication in traditional Kimi style ;) Kimi was told on the team radio that he was racing Button and he should improve his lap times by two tenths. Kimi told the team to give him more power!
Rosberg´s gap to his team-mate stayed around one second and Hamilton had no real chance to challenge Nico for victory today. Bottas took his first ever podium finish, which was a staggering achievement from the young and fast Finn! Bottas´ performance gave me some joy although I was so disappointed due to Sebastian´s DNF and Kimi´s lame performance. Bottas´ team-mate Massa finished 4th and Alonso 5th, Perez 6th, Magnussen 7th, Ricciardo 8th, Hulkenberg 9th and Kimi 10th. But I´m sincerely happy for Bottas, who looked absolutely delighted when spraying champagne on the podium!
Rosberg has an upper hand now in the championship battle as the German now leads the standings with a 29-point gap over his team-mate. On the other hand, it´s not that huge a lead yet. It only takes one retirement for Nico and one win for Lewis and suddenly the lead has shrunk to 4 points only. I have a couple of wishes considering the British GP in a fortnight: I do hope Williams will be able to keep up the momentum and still challenge Mercedes on the British soil. And I do hope from the bottom of my heart that Red Bull Ring was the worst track of the season for Red Bull and they will be back on the very top when going to Silverstone! No wonder there were some Finnish swear words coming from Sebastian´s mouth this weekend... Though the Finnish F1 commentator Oskari Saari still hasn´t revealed what the German Red Bull ace actually said! ;D
Luckily Kimi had gained a position at the start and the Iceman was driving in P7. The battle for victory looked extremely intense: the top 4 drivers Massa, Bottas, Rosberg and Hamilton were all within DRS distance with each other. Rosberg was the first one of them to pit for a fresh set of soft tyres on lap 12. After the first pit stop Bottas rejoined the track right behind Rosberg but ahead of Hamilton. Massa was the one who lost most during his pit stop as he dropped back to P5. Force India´s Perez was leading the race at this point as the Mexican had a different tyre strategy and hadn´t pitted yet.
Perez pitted not until on lap 30 and the battle for victory intensified between Rosberg, Bottas and Hamilton. Massa wasn´t able to quite match the pace of those three. At this point it seemed that Bottas could really challenge the Mercedes drivers as his pace looked so promising. And Mercedes didn´t seem to have a problem-free race this time, either but again they faced some brake issues. At the halfway point of the race Sebastian´s race turned pitch-black: at the back of the field he tried to overtake Sauber´s Gutierrez and ended up damaging his front wing. A moment later Sebastian was told to come to the pits as there was no sense continueing the race. Considering the fact that Sebastian won´t probably get through the season with only 5 power units anyway this was the only right call to be made. I felt so gutted for Sebastian! Won´t these problems ever end? To be honest, Red Bull was lacking performance so badly at Red Bull Ring! I wanted to see Sebastian fighting for points today but all those hopes vanished already at the beginning of the race.
The second pit stop was a turning point for Bottas. It didn´t go perfectly in terms of timing and the Finn rejoined the track behind Rosberg and Hamilton. At this point it became obvious that the fight for the victory was going to be between the Mercedes team-mates as Bottas had already a several-second gap to the Mercedes duo. Kimi on the other hand faced another difficult race. The Iceman was driving in P11 and we got to hear some team radio communication in traditional Kimi style ;) Kimi was told on the team radio that he was racing Button and he should improve his lap times by two tenths. Kimi told the team to give him more power!
Rosberg´s gap to his team-mate stayed around one second and Hamilton had no real chance to challenge Nico for victory today. Bottas took his first ever podium finish, which was a staggering achievement from the young and fast Finn! Bottas´ performance gave me some joy although I was so disappointed due to Sebastian´s DNF and Kimi´s lame performance. Bottas´ team-mate Massa finished 4th and Alonso 5th, Perez 6th, Magnussen 7th, Ricciardo 8th, Hulkenberg 9th and Kimi 10th. But I´m sincerely happy for Bottas, who looked absolutely delighted when spraying champagne on the podium!
Rosberg has an upper hand now in the championship battle as the German now leads the standings with a 29-point gap over his team-mate. On the other hand, it´s not that huge a lead yet. It only takes one retirement for Nico and one win for Lewis and suddenly the lead has shrunk to 4 points only. I have a couple of wishes considering the British GP in a fortnight: I do hope Williams will be able to keep up the momentum and still challenge Mercedes on the British soil. And I do hope from the bottom of my heart that Red Bull Ring was the worst track of the season for Red Bull and they will be back on the very top when going to Silverstone! No wonder there were some Finnish swear words coming from Sebastian´s mouth this weekend... Though the Finnish F1 commentator Oskari Saari still hasn´t revealed what the German Red Bull ace actually said! ;D
lauantai 21. kesäkuuta 2014
Austrian GP / Qualifying: A sensational front row lock-out for Williams!
It was absolutely fantastic to see the Formula 1 circus come back to Austria after an 11-year break. The scenery at Red Bull Ring (former A1 Ring) is very eye-catching: the perfect venue for Formula 1 racing! The track is only 4,3 km long but the altitude variations make it stand out from all the other tracks on the calendar.
Most drivers made their first run in Q1 on Pirelli´s soft-compound tyres and then switched to supersofts at the end of the session to improve their lap time. That wasn´t, however, the case in terms of the Williams drivers, Mercedes duo or Red Bull drivers. Also Alonso at the wheel of his Ferrari set his fastest lap time on the yellow-marked soft tyres. Still Hamilton topped the timesheets with his team-mate Rosberg in P3. The Russian Toro Rosso driver Kvyat made an impressive work and was 2nd fastest in the first session (on supersofts naturally). Red Bull had seemed to be struggling with their pace already in the free practice sessions but still it was pretty worrying to see Sebastian being only 15th fastest in spite of the tyre choice. Both Sauber drivers were out of Q2 as well as the Marussia and Caterham drivers.
Q2 held some nasty surprises. As expected, Rosberg and Hamilton were the fastest men on track but this time they didn´t have the huge margin over their rivals like in previous races. The Williams duo Bottas and Massa were right on Mercedes´ tail! Perez in his Force India was the first to be knocked out of the final session whilst his team-mate Hulkenberg progressed into Q3. Button in his McLaren was out of Q3 as well but his team-mate Magnussen managed to make it into Q3. And what broke my heart was to see Sebastian at the wheel of his RB10 not to make his way into the decisive final session! Sebastian was only 13th fastest today whilst his team-mate Ricciardo also made it among the top ten. Ricciardo has beaten Sebastian already 6 times in qualifying this year! It was such a disappointment to see that on Red Bull´s home soil Sebastian couldn´t do better today. Kimi at the wheel of his Ferrari also had difficulties to pull out a decent lap but the Iceman just barely made it into Q3 by being 10th fastest.
When the final session got underway it became obvious that the Williams drivers could really challenge the Mercedes duo for pole in Spielberg! After the first runs Bottas was topping the timesheets with Rosberg 2nd and Massa 3rd. Q3 involved some dramatic turns as well as Hamilton´s first lap time was disallowed due to track limit violation at turn 8. The stewards had informed the drivers already beforehand that failing to respect track limits between turn 8 and 9 would lead to disallowing the lap time. Kimi and Hulkenberg made only one attempt in Q3 but Hulkenberg shared Hamilton´s fate as the German´s lap time was disallowed as well due to a similar violation. More drama was to follow: Hamilton locked up and spun on his second run and was therefore unable to set a lap time! I couldn´t help wondering if the huge amount of pressure was starting to show... Rosberg had to abort his flying lap due to yellow flags caused by his team-mate so he had to settle for 3rd place. Massa at the wheel of his FW36 sensationally made it on pole being 87 thousandths of a second faster than his team-mate Bottas, who completed the front row lock-out for Williams! Wow, who could have predicted that one coming?! This was the first 1-2 for Williams since the German GP in 2003! So the grid for tomorrow´s race looks like this: 1.Massa, 2. Bottas, 3. Rosberg, 4. Alonso, 5.Ricciardo, 6. Magnussen, 7. Kvyat, 8. Räikkönen, 9. Hamilton, 10. Hulkenberg.
So what are my expectations for tomorrow´s race? I´m sure the Williams drivers will have a hard time with Rosberg especially. Mercedes´ race pace on the long runs has been very impressive but let´s see what Massa and Bottas will be capable of. Mercedes cars have already turned out to be vulnerable and not immune to technical worries so I believe both Massa and Bottas have a real chance to fight for victory tomorrow. Hamilton needs a miracle to be able to win tomorrow as he starts from P9. Kimi also has a challenging race awaiting... Not to mention Sebastian, who will start from P13!
P.S. Unfortunately I missed a huge part of the Canadian GP, which took place a fortnight ago as I was travelling on a camper with my family. So for the first time in 4 years I also didn´t write a blog post although there was a race! And what a race it was: both Mercedes cars were hit with overheating problems and in Hamilton´s case it lead to DNF. Ricciardo took his maiden win in F1, Rosberg finished 2nd in spite of lacking the extra 150 HP due to a failure of his MGU-K and Vettel finished 3rd. Perez and Massa collided on the final lap and Perez was handed a 5-place grid penalty for Austrian GP due to causing the collision.
Most drivers made their first run in Q1 on Pirelli´s soft-compound tyres and then switched to supersofts at the end of the session to improve their lap time. That wasn´t, however, the case in terms of the Williams drivers, Mercedes duo or Red Bull drivers. Also Alonso at the wheel of his Ferrari set his fastest lap time on the yellow-marked soft tyres. Still Hamilton topped the timesheets with his team-mate Rosberg in P3. The Russian Toro Rosso driver Kvyat made an impressive work and was 2nd fastest in the first session (on supersofts naturally). Red Bull had seemed to be struggling with their pace already in the free practice sessions but still it was pretty worrying to see Sebastian being only 15th fastest in spite of the tyre choice. Both Sauber drivers were out of Q2 as well as the Marussia and Caterham drivers.
Q2 held some nasty surprises. As expected, Rosberg and Hamilton were the fastest men on track but this time they didn´t have the huge margin over their rivals like in previous races. The Williams duo Bottas and Massa were right on Mercedes´ tail! Perez in his Force India was the first to be knocked out of the final session whilst his team-mate Hulkenberg progressed into Q3. Button in his McLaren was out of Q3 as well but his team-mate Magnussen managed to make it into Q3. And what broke my heart was to see Sebastian at the wheel of his RB10 not to make his way into the decisive final session! Sebastian was only 13th fastest today whilst his team-mate Ricciardo also made it among the top ten. Ricciardo has beaten Sebastian already 6 times in qualifying this year! It was such a disappointment to see that on Red Bull´s home soil Sebastian couldn´t do better today. Kimi at the wheel of his Ferrari also had difficulties to pull out a decent lap but the Iceman just barely made it into Q3 by being 10th fastest.
When the final session got underway it became obvious that the Williams drivers could really challenge the Mercedes duo for pole in Spielberg! After the first runs Bottas was topping the timesheets with Rosberg 2nd and Massa 3rd. Q3 involved some dramatic turns as well as Hamilton´s first lap time was disallowed due to track limit violation at turn 8. The stewards had informed the drivers already beforehand that failing to respect track limits between turn 8 and 9 would lead to disallowing the lap time. Kimi and Hulkenberg made only one attempt in Q3 but Hulkenberg shared Hamilton´s fate as the German´s lap time was disallowed as well due to a similar violation. More drama was to follow: Hamilton locked up and spun on his second run and was therefore unable to set a lap time! I couldn´t help wondering if the huge amount of pressure was starting to show... Rosberg had to abort his flying lap due to yellow flags caused by his team-mate so he had to settle for 3rd place. Massa at the wheel of his FW36 sensationally made it on pole being 87 thousandths of a second faster than his team-mate Bottas, who completed the front row lock-out for Williams! Wow, who could have predicted that one coming?! This was the first 1-2 for Williams since the German GP in 2003! So the grid for tomorrow´s race looks like this: 1.Massa, 2. Bottas, 3. Rosberg, 4. Alonso, 5.Ricciardo, 6. Magnussen, 7. Kvyat, 8. Räikkönen, 9. Hamilton, 10. Hulkenberg.
So what are my expectations for tomorrow´s race? I´m sure the Williams drivers will have a hard time with Rosberg especially. Mercedes´ race pace on the long runs has been very impressive but let´s see what Massa and Bottas will be capable of. Mercedes cars have already turned out to be vulnerable and not immune to technical worries so I believe both Massa and Bottas have a real chance to fight for victory tomorrow. Hamilton needs a miracle to be able to win tomorrow as he starts from P9. Kimi also has a challenging race awaiting... Not to mention Sebastian, who will start from P13!
P.S. Unfortunately I missed a huge part of the Canadian GP, which took place a fortnight ago as I was travelling on a camper with my family. So for the first time in 4 years I also didn´t write a blog post although there was a race! And what a race it was: both Mercedes cars were hit with overheating problems and in Hamilton´s case it lead to DNF. Ricciardo took his maiden win in F1, Rosberg finished 2nd in spite of lacking the extra 150 HP due to a failure of his MGU-K and Vettel finished 3rd. Perez and Massa collided on the final lap and Perez was handed a 5-place grid penalty for Austrian GP due to causing the collision.
sunnuntai 25. toukokuuta 2014
Monaco GP: A race like a horror film!
My hopes weren´t too high before the race but I really wanted to believe that the race would bring something positive. Well, I was very very wrong! The Monaco grand prix turned out to be like a horror film!
Everything looked so promising yet at the start. When the lights went out, Sebastian in P4 took a staggering start and made his way past Ricciardo to 3rd. Kimi starting from P6 also took a fantastic start and made his way up to P4 past Alonso and Ricciardo, who dropped back to 5th place. Rosberg maintained his lead and Hamilton was right behind him. Safety car was deployed already on the opening lap when Force India´s Perez and McLaren´s Button collided. The incident will be investigated after the race so there might be some penalty coming presumably for Button.
The safety car came in on lap 3 and it was time for re-start! Then the first horror film scene happened: once again Vettel was hit with technical problems as he told on the team radio that he was lacking power! Right away Kimi was able to overtake Sebastian and soon there were many others to follow... On lap 8 the German was asked to bring the car to the pits and his race was over! What an absolutely depressing and devastating moment! Sebastian´s RB10 seems to be haunted by all sorts of technical issues! I couldn´t believe my eyes... :(
After Sebastian´s retirement Kimi was driving in P3 and it gave me a lot of comfort to see the Iceman fighting for a podium finish. On lap 25 safety car was deployed again. Sutil at the wheel of his Force India lost the control of his car at the swimming pool chicane and crashed to the barrier, which left a lot of debris on the track. Immediately all the top drivers pitted for a new set of tyres. A dangerous incident occurred in the pits as Toro Rosso´s Vergne was released unsafely and he almost hit McLaren´s Magnussen. It was obvious Vergne was going to be penalised for the unsafe release.
Only a few laps after the first pit stop the second horror film scene hit when Kimi had to pit again for the second time! It was never shown on TV what actually had happened but after the race Kimi told the media that either one of the Marussias had hit his rear tyre behind the safety car causing the Finn a puncture. This meant only one thing: Kimi´s race was ruined! He dropped back to P13! What a moment of despair. There´re no words that can describe the amount of disappointment that hit me at this stage.
Vergne was handed a drive through penalty due to the unsafe release from the pits as expected. Such a shame, Vergne was driving an impressive race after starting from P7. So Rosberg was leading the race with his team-mate right behind him. Ricciardo was driving a strong race in P4 and Alonso was 5th. Rosberg was told on the team radio to save fuel as his fuel consumption was critical. On lap 52 Vergne´s race was over as the Frenchman faced an engine failure. By this point also Maldonado, Perez and Kvyat had also retired in addition to Sutil and Vettel. On lap 57 Williams´s Bottas got to experience his share of misfortune: the Finn was also hit with an engine failure and his race was over.
When there were 10 more laps to go Hamilton told on the team radio that he couldn´t see with his left eye and it also affected his pace significantly so the Briton couldn´t challenge his team-mate for victory. Also Ricciardo in P3 was able to close the gap to Hamilton but there wasn´t any chance to overtake. On lap 74 Kimi´s race got another very unfortunate turn when the Iceman tried to overtake Magnussen at the hair pin which caused them both to get stuck to the barrier. Kimi had to pit for a new front wing and the Finn was out of points! The incident between Kimi and Magnussen will be investigated after the race so there might be some penalties coming... At the end of the race Kimi bounced back and set the fastest lap time of the race.
So actually nothing new under the Monte Carlo sun: 5th consecutive 1-2 for Mercedes AMG with Ricciardo completing the podium. Alonso finished 4th, Hulkenberg 5th with a different tyre strategy, Button 6th and Massa 7th. What was very impressive was the fact that Marussia´s Jules Bianchi made it up to P8 and scored the first-ever points for Marussia! Grosjean in his Lotus finished 9th and Magnussen 10th. Nico´s win today meant that the German snatched the championship lead from his team-mate and they now have a 4-point gap in the championship standings. Alonso in 3rd place is already 61 points off Rosberg... So the only excitement seems to be, which one of the Mercedes drivers will clinch the title this year.
This was certainly a race I want to forget as soon as possible and move on to Canada! The misfortune of Kimi and Sebastian CAN´T go on forever, right? There´ve been so bitter disappointments this year. But I know the good is definitely worth waiting for :)
Everything looked so promising yet at the start. When the lights went out, Sebastian in P4 took a staggering start and made his way past Ricciardo to 3rd. Kimi starting from P6 also took a fantastic start and made his way up to P4 past Alonso and Ricciardo, who dropped back to 5th place. Rosberg maintained his lead and Hamilton was right behind him. Safety car was deployed already on the opening lap when Force India´s Perez and McLaren´s Button collided. The incident will be investigated after the race so there might be some penalty coming presumably for Button.
The safety car came in on lap 3 and it was time for re-start! Then the first horror film scene happened: once again Vettel was hit with technical problems as he told on the team radio that he was lacking power! Right away Kimi was able to overtake Sebastian and soon there were many others to follow... On lap 8 the German was asked to bring the car to the pits and his race was over! What an absolutely depressing and devastating moment! Sebastian´s RB10 seems to be haunted by all sorts of technical issues! I couldn´t believe my eyes... :(
After Sebastian´s retirement Kimi was driving in P3 and it gave me a lot of comfort to see the Iceman fighting for a podium finish. On lap 25 safety car was deployed again. Sutil at the wheel of his Force India lost the control of his car at the swimming pool chicane and crashed to the barrier, which left a lot of debris on the track. Immediately all the top drivers pitted for a new set of tyres. A dangerous incident occurred in the pits as Toro Rosso´s Vergne was released unsafely and he almost hit McLaren´s Magnussen. It was obvious Vergne was going to be penalised for the unsafe release.
Only a few laps after the first pit stop the second horror film scene hit when Kimi had to pit again for the second time! It was never shown on TV what actually had happened but after the race Kimi told the media that either one of the Marussias had hit his rear tyre behind the safety car causing the Finn a puncture. This meant only one thing: Kimi´s race was ruined! He dropped back to P13! What a moment of despair. There´re no words that can describe the amount of disappointment that hit me at this stage.
Vergne was handed a drive through penalty due to the unsafe release from the pits as expected. Such a shame, Vergne was driving an impressive race after starting from P7. So Rosberg was leading the race with his team-mate right behind him. Ricciardo was driving a strong race in P4 and Alonso was 5th. Rosberg was told on the team radio to save fuel as his fuel consumption was critical. On lap 52 Vergne´s race was over as the Frenchman faced an engine failure. By this point also Maldonado, Perez and Kvyat had also retired in addition to Sutil and Vettel. On lap 57 Williams´s Bottas got to experience his share of misfortune: the Finn was also hit with an engine failure and his race was over.
When there were 10 more laps to go Hamilton told on the team radio that he couldn´t see with his left eye and it also affected his pace significantly so the Briton couldn´t challenge his team-mate for victory. Also Ricciardo in P3 was able to close the gap to Hamilton but there wasn´t any chance to overtake. On lap 74 Kimi´s race got another very unfortunate turn when the Iceman tried to overtake Magnussen at the hair pin which caused them both to get stuck to the barrier. Kimi had to pit for a new front wing and the Finn was out of points! The incident between Kimi and Magnussen will be investigated after the race so there might be some penalties coming... At the end of the race Kimi bounced back and set the fastest lap time of the race.
So actually nothing new under the Monte Carlo sun: 5th consecutive 1-2 for Mercedes AMG with Ricciardo completing the podium. Alonso finished 4th, Hulkenberg 5th with a different tyre strategy, Button 6th and Massa 7th. What was very impressive was the fact that Marussia´s Jules Bianchi made it up to P8 and scored the first-ever points for Marussia! Grosjean in his Lotus finished 9th and Magnussen 10th. Nico´s win today meant that the German snatched the championship lead from his team-mate and they now have a 4-point gap in the championship standings. Alonso in 3rd place is already 61 points off Rosberg... So the only excitement seems to be, which one of the Mercedes drivers will clinch the title this year.
This was certainly a race I want to forget as soon as possible and move on to Canada! The misfortune of Kimi and Sebastian CAN´T go on forever, right? There´ve been so bitter disappointments this year. But I know the good is definitely worth waiting for :)
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