Ahead of the French GP there was extra tension in the air, as there was 60 % chance of rain during the race. However, conditions were dry, as the lights went out. And what a start it turned out! Sebastian in P3 got the best start of the top three. Ironically the German's start was too good! Going into Turn 1, Sebastian was at Hamilton's tow, and Bottas was on the right hand side, defending his second place. Sebastian had nowhere to go, and he locked his tyres, ending up hitting Bottas. The collision broke Sebastian's front wing and caused Bottas a spin and a rear-right puncture. Both drivers had no choice but to limp into the pits. Sebastian's SF71-H got a new nose, and he switched to the yellow-marked soft rubber. Bottas pitted for a similar tyre choice to Sebastian. Further back in the back there was another first-corner collision between Force India's Ocon and Toro Rosso's Gasly. Actually their collision was initially caused by Haas' Grosjean, who was later handed a 5-second time penalty for causing the collision. It was kind of ironic, that two French drivers took each other out of the race in front of their home crowd! Safety car was deployed, as there was a lot of debris on the track. Sebastian and Bottas had dropped at the very back of the pack. This definitely wasn't the start I had hoped for! Sebastian made a very costly mistake, and he was also penalized for causing the collision. The stewards gave Sebastian a 5-second time penalty for being at fault in the collision.
The top three was quite surprising. It wasn't any news, that Hamilton was leading the race, but Red Bull's Verstappen had jumped second and Renault's Sainz was third due to the collision caused by Sebastian. Ricciardo was fourth, Haas' Magnussen fifth, Sauber's Leclerc sensationally sixth and Kimi 7th. Unfortunately Kimi had lost a position in the first-corner incident. The re-start took place on lap 5. Kimi's SF71-H seemed to really come alive, and the Iceman made his way past Leclerc, snatching P6. A couple of laps later Kimi made a move on Haas' Magnussen and moved 5th. At the same time Sebastian started his overtaking show, making his way through the field one by one. This race definitely wasn't lacking spectacular overtaking moves! Ricciardo passed Sainz, making his way up to third. Only a lap later Kimi made a move on the Spanish Renault pilot as well, claiming P4. The French GP offered great entertainment indeed!
By lap 15 Sebastian had already made it P8 after overtaking Haas' Grosjean. Sebastian's driving was such a pleasure to watch; it was so determined, self-confident and passionate! After making the mistake of his own, Sebastian really wanted to make it as high as he possibly could. Bottas had more difficulties with overtaking his rivals, as the floor of the Finn's FW09 had suffered significant damage in the first-lap collision, so Bottas was lacking pace. By lap 24 Sebastian had already climbed up to P5 after overtaking Sainz in his Renault. However, now there was an 18-second gap to teammate Kimi, who was ahead of him.
Verstappen started the pit stop roulette on lap 26. The flying Dutchman opted for the hardest compound available, and re-joined the track in P4. Teammate Ricciardo pitted a few laps later for a similar tyre choice. The Australian lost a position during his pit stop, as Sebastian managed to get ahead, when the Australian re-joined the track. Race leader Hamilton pitted on lap 34, also for a fresh set of soft Pirellis. Meanwhile, Ricciardo managed to overtake Sebastian, who was already struggling with his out-worn tyres. Kimi pitted from the lead a lap later. The Iceman went for an alternative tyre strategy, as he switched to the red-walled super-soft compound. And after re-joining the track, Kimi's pace was unbelievable! The Iceman was driving like "in the good old days"! In only a few laps the storming Kimi closed the gap to his teammate Sebastian, moving past his teammate. The next target Ricciardo in P3 was eight seconds ahead.
Bottas pitted on lap 40 for the second time. But what a catastrophe the pit stop turned out, as there was a 6-second delay due to an issue with the jack! The unfortunate Finn re-joined the track on super-softs, dropping down to P9. Ferrari reacted right away and called Sebastian in. Sebastian suffered his 5-second time penalty and switched to the purple-marked ultra-softs. Luckily the German didn't lose any positions due to his second pit stop, in spite of the penalty.
By lap 46 the flying Kimi had closed the gap to Ricciardo, who was suffering from severe under-steering. A lap later Kimi made a staggering overtaking move on the Australian and jumped third! Wow, what a great drive from Kimi! With only a few laps to go, the front-left tyre of Stroll's Williams suddenly blew up in high speed, causing virtual safety car. Due to the virtual safety car, there were no more overtaking moves in the dying moments of the French GP. Hamilton crossed the finish line as the dominant race winner, for the 65th time in his career. Verstappen drove another flawless race, finishing the runner-up. I was so happy about the Dutchman's success after the mistake-filled beginning of the season. Max definitely showed all the skeptics, that he is able to turn difficulties into success! I was also very happy for Kimi, who made it on the podium after a strong race. Ricciardo finished fourth for Red Bull and Sebastian had to settle for P5, which was actually a great result after the costly mistake at the start. Magnussen finished 6th for Haas and Bottas was 7th in the end. At the end of the day, the predicted rain never came! Some people say, that the 5-second time penalty wasn't hard enough for Sebastian's manoeuvre, but at the end of the day, Sebastian did lose his lead in the championship standings due to the mistake of his own! So in my opinion the mistake came with quite a high price!
I'm proud of Sebastian, who admitted his mistake after the race and had apologized to Bottas straight away for ruining his race. Now, instead of leading the championship standings by one point, the German is 14 points down on Hamilton. Mercedes also increased their lead by six points in the constructors' championship standings (Mercedes 237 / Ferrari 214). However, the French GP was only the beginning of the first triple header in the F1 history, so F1 will be back already next weekend in Austria! Can't wait for the Red Team to bounce back!
Kimi Räikkönen & Sebastian Vettel
sunnuntai 24. kesäkuuta 2018
French GP / Qualifying: Mercedes stamped their dominance on Le Castellet!
Rain had washed out the Circuit Paul Ricard on Saturday morning, so the track was dirty, as the qualifying got underway. This was the first qualifying session at Circuit Paul Ricard for 28 years! The track conditions kept improving throughout the first session. Mercedes had brought an engine update to France, and Hamilton was the fastest man of the session, followed by Red Bull's Verstappen and Ferrari's Räikkönen. The excitement intensified at the end of the session, as it started to drizzle. McLaren had a pitch-black qualifying, as either Alonso or Vandoorne didn't make it through to Q2. Williams' streak of poor qualifying performances continued, as both Sirotkin and Stroll were once again out of Q2. On the positive note, Sauber showed improved performance, as stunning Leclerc made it P11 and teammate Ericsson P14 in the first segment. It seems that the Swiss team has taken a major step forward in terms of performance.
The drivers were queuing up at the end of the pit lane minutes before Q2 started. That was because there were occasional patches of light rain. Once again Q2 was all about tyre strategy. Both Red Bulls -like the Mercedes- went for an alternative strategy to Ferrari and the rest of the top ten, setting their fastest lap times on the harder, red-walled super-soft tyres. In spite of the tyre compound, the Mercedes ace Hamilton was the fastest man on track. There was no rain at the end of the session, and the red-suited drivers managed to set excellent lap times on the ultra-soft Pirellis. Sebastian moved second, only a tenth shy of Hamilton's pace. Kimi's pace was convincing as well, and the Iceman went third fastest. Once again, the star of the session was Sauber's Leclerc, who was the last driver to make it in to Q3! This was Sauber's first Q3 appearance since the 2015 Italian GP. Leclerc was massive eight tenths quicker than his teammate Ericsson, who ended up as the slowest of the runners in P15. Also the Force India duo of Ocon and Perez were out of the final session, in addition to Renault's Hulkenberg and Toro Rosso's Gasly.
With the rain having cleared off, it was a straight shootout for pole. But with just four minutes of the session gone, Haas' Grosjean hit the kerb at Turn 3, ending up crashing into the wall. Grosjean's crash brought out the red flags and stopped the clock. Hamilton took provisional pole, edging teammate Bottas by 0.095s only. Sebastian was third fastest, 0.178s shy of Hamilton's benchmark. Kimi had made a mistake in the final sector, and the Finn was massive eight tenths down on the pace-setting Briton. In addition to this, Kimi's second attempt left a lot to hope for. It was a bit bizarre, that Kimi was sent out, although there was still a lot of time remaining and the others were still at the garage. There was also a misunderstanding between Kimi and the team, in terms of how many laps Kimi had fuel for... All in all, Kimi couldn't string a decent lap together and ended up sixth. The Iceman was a massive one second off the pace! But the day belonged to Hamilton, with Mercedes' quadruple world champion continuing to re-write the record books. This was already the 75th career pole for the Briton. Bottas made it a front row lockout for the Silver Arrows. Sebastian, too had a scrappy final effort, which saw him end up in third, 0.371s down on the pole-setter Hamilton. However, worth noting is, that Sebastian has made it in the top three for every race so far this season! That is an impressive streak. In P4 and P5 came the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Ricciardo, who had no chance to match Mercedes' pace. Renault's Sainz qualified 7th, and Sauber's Leclerc was stunning eighth! The Haas duo of Magnussen and Grosjean rounded out the top ten, although Grosjean hadn't been able to set a lap time due to his crash.
How about race pace then? Will Ferrari and Red Bull be able to challenge Mercedes for the victory? I really hope so. Ferrari will start to the race on the ultra-softs, which should benefit the red-suited drivers at the start. Hopefully Sebastian can make it past Bottas and maybe even Hamilton, going into Turn 1... I actually don't know about today's weather forecast, but I hope it's going to be an eventful and action-packed race!
The drivers were queuing up at the end of the pit lane minutes before Q2 started. That was because there were occasional patches of light rain. Once again Q2 was all about tyre strategy. Both Red Bulls -like the Mercedes- went for an alternative strategy to Ferrari and the rest of the top ten, setting their fastest lap times on the harder, red-walled super-soft tyres. In spite of the tyre compound, the Mercedes ace Hamilton was the fastest man on track. There was no rain at the end of the session, and the red-suited drivers managed to set excellent lap times on the ultra-soft Pirellis. Sebastian moved second, only a tenth shy of Hamilton's pace. Kimi's pace was convincing as well, and the Iceman went third fastest. Once again, the star of the session was Sauber's Leclerc, who was the last driver to make it in to Q3! This was Sauber's first Q3 appearance since the 2015 Italian GP. Leclerc was massive eight tenths quicker than his teammate Ericsson, who ended up as the slowest of the runners in P15. Also the Force India duo of Ocon and Perez were out of the final session, in addition to Renault's Hulkenberg and Toro Rosso's Gasly.
With the rain having cleared off, it was a straight shootout for pole. But with just four minutes of the session gone, Haas' Grosjean hit the kerb at Turn 3, ending up crashing into the wall. Grosjean's crash brought out the red flags and stopped the clock. Hamilton took provisional pole, edging teammate Bottas by 0.095s only. Sebastian was third fastest, 0.178s shy of Hamilton's benchmark. Kimi had made a mistake in the final sector, and the Finn was massive eight tenths down on the pace-setting Briton. In addition to this, Kimi's second attempt left a lot to hope for. It was a bit bizarre, that Kimi was sent out, although there was still a lot of time remaining and the others were still at the garage. There was also a misunderstanding between Kimi and the team, in terms of how many laps Kimi had fuel for... All in all, Kimi couldn't string a decent lap together and ended up sixth. The Iceman was a massive one second off the pace! But the day belonged to Hamilton, with Mercedes' quadruple world champion continuing to re-write the record books. This was already the 75th career pole for the Briton. Bottas made it a front row lockout for the Silver Arrows. Sebastian, too had a scrappy final effort, which saw him end up in third, 0.371s down on the pole-setter Hamilton. However, worth noting is, that Sebastian has made it in the top three for every race so far this season! That is an impressive streak. In P4 and P5 came the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Ricciardo, who had no chance to match Mercedes' pace. Renault's Sainz qualified 7th, and Sauber's Leclerc was stunning eighth! The Haas duo of Magnussen and Grosjean rounded out the top ten, although Grosjean hadn't been able to set a lap time due to his crash.
How about race pace then? Will Ferrari and Red Bull be able to challenge Mercedes for the victory? I really hope so. Ferrari will start to the race on the ultra-softs, which should benefit the red-suited drivers at the start. Hopefully Sebastian can make it past Bottas and maybe even Hamilton, going into Turn 1... I actually don't know about today's weather forecast, but I hope it's going to be an eventful and action-packed race!
maanantai 11. kesäkuuta 2018
Canadian GP: Super Sebastian took his 50th career win!
After two rather boring and action-lacking races I looked forward to the Canadian GP with huge anticipation. The track of Ile Notre-Dame has been the venue of some great races in the previous years. The start of the race was definitely electrifying. Sebastian took a fantastic start from pole and held on to his lead. Verstappen, who started to the race on the pink-walled hyper-softs, did everything to challenge the Mercedes ace Bottas for the second place. However, the Finn had done his homework well. For a moment they were going side by side, and their wheels even touched a little. But Bottas was determined to keep his second place, so Max had no choice but to settle for third. On the other hand, Kimi's start left a lot to hope for. His drive into Turn 1 was everything but aggressive, and Red Bull's Ricciardo managed to make it past the Iceman, snatching P5 from the Finn. Further back in the pack Williams' Stroll lost control of his FW41, crashing into Toro Rosso's Hartley in high speed. Debris was flying all over, and both drivers were out of the race. Not a very convincing performance from Stroll in front of his home crowd! So safety car was deployed already on the opening lap.
The re-start took place on lap 4, and the order of the top six remained unchanged. Sebastian started to bang fastest lap times one after the other, increasing the gap to Bottas. On lap 11 the gap was already 3.5s. Verstappen, on the other hand, seemed unable to match Bottas' pace. The Dutchman was already over 5 seconds behind the Finn. Hamilton and Verstappen were the first top drivers to make their pit stop on lap 17. Both opted for the red-marked super-soft compound. Ricciardo pitted on the following lap, for a similar tyre choice. The Australian benefitted from the overcut and re-joined the track in P5, ahead of Hamilton. Hamilton had been struggling with his pace, having reported on the team radio that he was missing power. The team managed to improve the situation by making changes to the cooling system during the Briton's pit stop.
Kimi pitted not until on lap 33. The Iceman, too, opted for the hardest compound available for the weekend. Unfortunately Kimi re-joined the track in P6, right behind Hamilton. At this point the race leader Sebastian was already 6 seconds adrift from Bottas. The Finn pitted on lap 37, and Sebastian came in a lap later. No surprises in terms of the tyre choice; both re-joined the track on the super-soft Pirellis. Sebastian's gap to Bottas was still almost 5 seconds. Verstappen was third, Ricciardo fourth, Hamilton fifth and Kimi sixth.
There were no thrilling turns at the end of the race. There was a close call for Bottas on lap 56, when he was lapping Renault's Sainz. Bottas took it to the grass and lost a few seconds there, but Verstappen wasn't close enough to benefit from the Finn's mistake. Hamilton managed to close the gap to Ricciardo, making it into DRS distance from the Australian. But Hamilton's driving was a bit tame, definitely no party mode this time. Hamilton seemed utterly unable to attack the Red Bull ace. Towards the closing stages of the race, Verstappen also managed to get closer to Bottas, who had to save fuel. But not even Max's aggressive driving style helped him to try a move on the Finn.
There was a bizarre episode in terms of the chequered flag. The super model, who was in charge of waving the flag, waved it a lap too early! The race leader Sebastian pointed it out on the team radio as well. Due to waving the chequered flag too early, Ricciardo's fastest lap time, made on the final lap, was excluded, and the honour of the fastest lap time went to teammate Verstappen, who had set it on the second last lap. Although there hadn't been exciting or wheel-banging battles for positions in the Canadian GP, I didn't mind, as Sebastian was leading the race from the start to the chequered flag! It was absolutely fantastic to see Sebastian take the third win of the season, 50th of his career. And this was the first win in Canada taken by a Ferrari driver since 2004! So it was about time to see the Red Team win again! By winning the Canadian GP, Sebastian also snatched the lead in the drivers' championship standings! It was heart-warming to see Sebastian celebrating the victory after the race. It clearly meant a lot to him.
Bottas finished the runner-up, after driving a strong and impressive race. Verstappen completed the podium, which made me very happy as well. Max really deserved the podium finish after such a mistake-filled first third of the season. He drove a mature race and really delivered this time! Teammate Ricciardo finished fourth, ahead of Hamilton and Kimi. Renault duo of Hulkenberg and Sainz finished 7th and 8th respectively. Force India's Ocon and Sauber's Leclerc completed the top ten. This was definitely a strong performance from the Monegasque again!
The battle for the championship is getting heated. Sebastian's lead to Hamilton is now one point only! Thanks to his excellent P2, Bottas moved third in the championship standings, being 35 points down on Sebastian. Mercedes still have the lead in the constructors' standings. They have 206 points to Ferrari's 189. I'm so delighted, that the summer will be filled with Formula 1 action, as there will be 6 races in 8 weeks! Hopefully many more wins to come for Sebastian and Kimi!
P.S. It was funny to see, how Sebastian wanted to learn more about the Finnish language at the post-race press conference. The Finnish F1 journalist Heikki Kulta asked Bottas, if it was "eating the man" (which is a Finnish expression of feeling gutted) to finish 2nd for the fourth time this season instead of winning a race. Sebastian, who was sitting next to Valtteri, wanted to know what this expression "eating the man" meant. First Valtteri tried to explain it in other words but then he used the Finnish word "vituttaa" (which is a swearing word), which Sebastian immediately understood! :D It was quite a hilarious episode!
The re-start took place on lap 4, and the order of the top six remained unchanged. Sebastian started to bang fastest lap times one after the other, increasing the gap to Bottas. On lap 11 the gap was already 3.5s. Verstappen, on the other hand, seemed unable to match Bottas' pace. The Dutchman was already over 5 seconds behind the Finn. Hamilton and Verstappen were the first top drivers to make their pit stop on lap 17. Both opted for the red-marked super-soft compound. Ricciardo pitted on the following lap, for a similar tyre choice. The Australian benefitted from the overcut and re-joined the track in P5, ahead of Hamilton. Hamilton had been struggling with his pace, having reported on the team radio that he was missing power. The team managed to improve the situation by making changes to the cooling system during the Briton's pit stop.
Kimi pitted not until on lap 33. The Iceman, too, opted for the hardest compound available for the weekend. Unfortunately Kimi re-joined the track in P6, right behind Hamilton. At this point the race leader Sebastian was already 6 seconds adrift from Bottas. The Finn pitted on lap 37, and Sebastian came in a lap later. No surprises in terms of the tyre choice; both re-joined the track on the super-soft Pirellis. Sebastian's gap to Bottas was still almost 5 seconds. Verstappen was third, Ricciardo fourth, Hamilton fifth and Kimi sixth.
There were no thrilling turns at the end of the race. There was a close call for Bottas on lap 56, when he was lapping Renault's Sainz. Bottas took it to the grass and lost a few seconds there, but Verstappen wasn't close enough to benefit from the Finn's mistake. Hamilton managed to close the gap to Ricciardo, making it into DRS distance from the Australian. But Hamilton's driving was a bit tame, definitely no party mode this time. Hamilton seemed utterly unable to attack the Red Bull ace. Towards the closing stages of the race, Verstappen also managed to get closer to Bottas, who had to save fuel. But not even Max's aggressive driving style helped him to try a move on the Finn.
There was a bizarre episode in terms of the chequered flag. The super model, who was in charge of waving the flag, waved it a lap too early! The race leader Sebastian pointed it out on the team radio as well. Due to waving the chequered flag too early, Ricciardo's fastest lap time, made on the final lap, was excluded, and the honour of the fastest lap time went to teammate Verstappen, who had set it on the second last lap. Although there hadn't been exciting or wheel-banging battles for positions in the Canadian GP, I didn't mind, as Sebastian was leading the race from the start to the chequered flag! It was absolutely fantastic to see Sebastian take the third win of the season, 50th of his career. And this was the first win in Canada taken by a Ferrari driver since 2004! So it was about time to see the Red Team win again! By winning the Canadian GP, Sebastian also snatched the lead in the drivers' championship standings! It was heart-warming to see Sebastian celebrating the victory after the race. It clearly meant a lot to him.
Bottas finished the runner-up, after driving a strong and impressive race. Verstappen completed the podium, which made me very happy as well. Max really deserved the podium finish after such a mistake-filled first third of the season. He drove a mature race and really delivered this time! Teammate Ricciardo finished fourth, ahead of Hamilton and Kimi. Renault duo of Hulkenberg and Sainz finished 7th and 8th respectively. Force India's Ocon and Sauber's Leclerc completed the top ten. This was definitely a strong performance from the Monegasque again!
The battle for the championship is getting heated. Sebastian's lead to Hamilton is now one point only! Thanks to his excellent P2, Bottas moved third in the championship standings, being 35 points down on Sebastian. Mercedes still have the lead in the constructors' standings. They have 206 points to Ferrari's 189. I'm so delighted, that the summer will be filled with Formula 1 action, as there will be 6 races in 8 weeks! Hopefully many more wins to come for Sebastian and Kimi!
P.S. It was funny to see, how Sebastian wanted to learn more about the Finnish language at the post-race press conference. The Finnish F1 journalist Heikki Kulta asked Bottas, if it was "eating the man" (which is a Finnish expression of feeling gutted) to finish 2nd for the fourth time this season instead of winning a race. Sebastian, who was sitting next to Valtteri, wanted to know what this expression "eating the man" meant. First Valtteri tried to explain it in other words but then he used the Finnish word "vituttaa" (which is a swearing word), which Sebastian immediately understood! :D It was quite a hilarious episode!
sunnuntai 10. kesäkuuta 2018
Canadian GP / Qualifying: Fourth pole of the season for imperious Vettel!
Round 7 brought the F1 circus from Europe to the track of Ile Notre-Dame, Canada. The start of the qualifying was dramatic for Haas' Grosjean, whose car started to billow smoke as soon as the Frenchman left his garage. The power unit failure meant a premature end for the unfortunate Grosjean's qualifying session. Both Ferrari aces showed top form right away. Kimi and Sebastian set fastest lap times alternately, whilst Hamilton decided to abandon his first flyer due to a lock-up. Verstappen, who had led all three of the weekend's free practice sessions, put in a strong lap to go third in his Red Bull. However, the third sector seemed to be quite challenging for Red Bull. For all teams it was difficult to get the pink-walled hyper-softs up in the right temperature, so the session saw several time-laps on the same set of tyres. There was a close call for Sauber's Ericsson, who damaged his suspension after clouting the wall at the exit of Turn 9 and nearly ran into Red Bull's Verstappen, who was on a cool-down lap. Sebastian and Kimi were the fastest men of the first session, separated by 15 thousandths of a second only. Hamilton made it third, 0.125s off Sebastian's pace. The most positive surprises of the first session were Toro Rosso's Hartley, who made it as high as P8 and Sauber's Leclerc, who made it 13th. Both of their teammates were out of Q2, in addition to the Williams duo of Stroll and Sirotkin.
In Q2 the question was, which teams could set their fastest lap times on the purple-marked ultra-soft compound. Both Mercedes and Ferrari sent their drivers out on the middle compound. Bottas went fastest, with Sebastian only a hundredth and Kimi a tenth off the Finn. Meanwhile, the Red Bull aces Verstappen and Ricciardo opted for the hyper-softs. Verstappen put in a staggering lap and went fastest. Both Mercedes and Ferrari came out on the hyper-softs at the end of the session, but none of the four drivers improved his lap time. In the dying moments of the second session, Ricciardo went fastest, edging his teammate Verstappen by 0.038s. It was extremely tight between the top four, as Ricciardo, Verstappen, Sebastian and Kimi were all within nine hundredths of a second! Haas' Magnussen was the first driver to miss out on Q3, alongside with Toro Rosso's Hartley, Sauber's Leclerc and the McLaren duo of Alonso and Vandoorne.
In the decisive last segment everyone came out on the pink-marked softest compound. Although Red Bull's Verstappen had shone in all free practice sessions, this time it was Sebastian's time to shine. The imperious German took provisional pole by 0.081s to Mercedes' Bottas, who was the faster Silver Arrow this time. Kimi was third and Hamilton fourth, having locked up his tyres again. The Red Bulls were struggling in the last sector; Verstappen was fourth and teammate Ricciardo sixth after their first runs. Kimi made a costly mistake on his second run; the Iceman took to the grass at Turn 2, preventing him from improving on his fifth-placed time. Hamilton jumped third on his second run, only to be pipped by the storming Red Bull ace Verstappen, who stole the 3rd place from the Briton. Sebastian managed to improve his lap time by 0.012s, and the determined German conquered pole for the fourth time this season! Bottas completed the front row, being only 0.093s off the pole-setter Sebastian. I was very happy for Max, who had finally managed to drive a mistake-free weekend after the terrible start to the season. Hamilton, who many had tipped as favourite for pole, had to content himself with fourth. Due to the mistake of his own, Kimi was fifth. Red Bull's Ricciardo completed the third row. The rows four and five will both be pink and yellow; Hulkenberg qualified 7th and Sainz 9th for Renault, whilst Ocon made it 8th and Perez 10th for Force India.
In Montreal a front row grid slot doesn't play as major a role as on some other tracks. In spite of this statistic detail, I really hope, that Sebastian will convert his imperious pole into a glorious victory today! The start will certainly be thrilling, as Max will start to the race on the softest compound, whilst the front row starters Sebastian and Bottas will be on the more durable rubber. I really hope that Max has learned from his mistakes and that he won't try anything stupid, going into Turn 1 and 2... The race pace of the top three teams is predicted to be very evenly matched, so I'm anticipating a hair-raising fight for the victory. Will the Wall of Champions demand casualties this year? And whose strategy will work the best? The action gets underway in about five hours. Keeping my thumbs up for my red-suited heroes! (And Max, who would definitely deserve some success after such a difficult and negative-coloured start to the season!) Forza Ferrari!
In Q2 the question was, which teams could set their fastest lap times on the purple-marked ultra-soft compound. Both Mercedes and Ferrari sent their drivers out on the middle compound. Bottas went fastest, with Sebastian only a hundredth and Kimi a tenth off the Finn. Meanwhile, the Red Bull aces Verstappen and Ricciardo opted for the hyper-softs. Verstappen put in a staggering lap and went fastest. Both Mercedes and Ferrari came out on the hyper-softs at the end of the session, but none of the four drivers improved his lap time. In the dying moments of the second session, Ricciardo went fastest, edging his teammate Verstappen by 0.038s. It was extremely tight between the top four, as Ricciardo, Verstappen, Sebastian and Kimi were all within nine hundredths of a second! Haas' Magnussen was the first driver to miss out on Q3, alongside with Toro Rosso's Hartley, Sauber's Leclerc and the McLaren duo of Alonso and Vandoorne.
In the decisive last segment everyone came out on the pink-marked softest compound. Although Red Bull's Verstappen had shone in all free practice sessions, this time it was Sebastian's time to shine. The imperious German took provisional pole by 0.081s to Mercedes' Bottas, who was the faster Silver Arrow this time. Kimi was third and Hamilton fourth, having locked up his tyres again. The Red Bulls were struggling in the last sector; Verstappen was fourth and teammate Ricciardo sixth after their first runs. Kimi made a costly mistake on his second run; the Iceman took to the grass at Turn 2, preventing him from improving on his fifth-placed time. Hamilton jumped third on his second run, only to be pipped by the storming Red Bull ace Verstappen, who stole the 3rd place from the Briton. Sebastian managed to improve his lap time by 0.012s, and the determined German conquered pole for the fourth time this season! Bottas completed the front row, being only 0.093s off the pole-setter Sebastian. I was very happy for Max, who had finally managed to drive a mistake-free weekend after the terrible start to the season. Hamilton, who many had tipped as favourite for pole, had to content himself with fourth. Due to the mistake of his own, Kimi was fifth. Red Bull's Ricciardo completed the third row. The rows four and five will both be pink and yellow; Hulkenberg qualified 7th and Sainz 9th for Renault, whilst Ocon made it 8th and Perez 10th for Force India.
In Montreal a front row grid slot doesn't play as major a role as on some other tracks. In spite of this statistic detail, I really hope, that Sebastian will convert his imperious pole into a glorious victory today! The start will certainly be thrilling, as Max will start to the race on the softest compound, whilst the front row starters Sebastian and Bottas will be on the more durable rubber. I really hope that Max has learned from his mistakes and that he won't try anything stupid, going into Turn 1 and 2... The race pace of the top three teams is predicted to be very evenly matched, so I'm anticipating a hair-raising fight for the victory. Will the Wall of Champions demand casualties this year? And whose strategy will work the best? The action gets underway in about five hours. Keeping my thumbs up for my red-suited heroes! (And Max, who would definitely deserve some success after such a difficult and negative-coloured start to the season!) Forza Ferrari!
sunnuntai 27. toukokuuta 2018
Monaco GP: Ricciardo got his redemption!
Although the narrow streets of Monte Carlo offer almost no chances of overtaking, the Monaco GP has usually offered a lot of entertainment due to safety car episodes and costly mistakes made by drivers. However, today's GP was an exception to that, as it turned out to be quite a boring race with no real drama. Nothing dramatic or thrilling happened, not even at the start. Ricciardo on pole took a perfect start and held on to his lead. Sebastian followed his ex teammate closely, with Hamilton and Kimi behind him. Actually the order of the whole top ten remained unchanged at the start. It was amazing, how clean a start the whole pack took, as there were no first-lap collisions! Verstappen, who had started to the race from the very back of the grid, managed to gain two positions right away. The Dutchman seemed determined to climb up the pack position by position. By lap eight, Max had already made his way up to P14.
Hamilton was the first driver in trouble with the hyper-soft tyres, and the Briton pitted already on lap 13. He switched to the purple-marked ultra-soft compound. At this point it really seemed, that Hamilton was on a two-stop strategy, as the early pit stop would have meant driving 60 laps on the ultra-softs, had the Briton been on a one-stopper! Hamilton re-joined the track in P6. Sebastian pitted three laps later, opting for the ultra-soft compound as well. The German Ferrari ace re-joined the track in P3, ahead of Bottas. The race leader Ricciardo pitted as well, for a fresh set of ultra-soft Pirellis and re-joined the track in the lead. Both Finns drove into the pits, too. Kimi opted for the ultra-soft compound, similar to his teammate. Bottas, however, switched to the red-marked super-soft rubber, after struggling massively on the softest compound. After re-joining the track, Bottas' pace on the fresh super-softs was extremely convincing and he was rapidly closing the gap to Hamilton and Kimi.
Around the halfway point of the race, Ricciardo was suddenly hit with a technical issue, and the Australian was losing power. Sebastian had closed the gap to Ricciardo, making it within DRS distance from the "Smiling Avenger". However, overtaking in Monaco is extremely difficult, even though the driver ahead of you has technical issues! In spite of Ricciardo´s technical woes Sebastian was unable to make a move on the race leader Ricciardo.
Verstappen pitted after completing 45 laps on the ultra-softs, and re-joined the track in P11. Ricciardo's pace in the lead left a lot to hope for, and his teammate was four seconds a lap faster on his fresh hyper-softs! With 25 laps to go, the top five drivers were all within five seconds! Verstappen was driving a brilliant race with no mistakes. He had a tight battle with Renault's Sainz for P9, the Dutchman finally getting the upper hand on the Spaniard.
The most dramatic moment of the race happened six laps before the chequered flag. Sauber's Leclerc was suddenly hit with a brake failure, which made the Monegasque to crash into Hartley's Toro Rosso. The crash destroyed the New Zealander's rear wing, and both drivers were out of the race. Virtual safety car was deployed. In spite of the virtual safety car, the top drivers stayed out despite their extremely worn tyres.
Virtual safety car ended with five laps to go. Ricciardo pulled out a five-second gap to Sebastian, who was struggling badly with his out-worn tyres. The Australian got his redemption, as he crossed the finish line as the race winner for the first time in Monaco! Sebastian finished the runner-up, with Hamilton completing the podium. It was amazing, that Hamilton was able to make the one-stop strategy work. Kimi finished fourth and Bottas fifth; this was the first time this season, that there were no Finns on the podium. Ocon finished stunning sixth for Force India, and Gasly made it a brilliant P7 for Toro Rosso. Renault's Hulkenberg, Red Bull's Verstappen and Renault's Sainz rounded out the top ten. Finishing in the points was an excellent result for Max, who had had a catastrophic Saturday due to the mistake of his own.
Sebastian decreased the gap to Hamilton in the drivers' championship standings, but by three points only. Hamilton now has 110 points to Sebastian's 96. Thanks to his victory, Ricciardo moved third with 72 points. Bottas is fourth with 68 points and Kimi fifth with 60 points. Mercedes' lead shrank into 22 points in the constructors' standings. With Ricciardo's superb win, Red Bull strengthened their position as the third best team.
Two weeks ago in Barcelona Mercedes was the team to beat. In Monaco the tables turned again, and Red Bull was the dominating team. In a fortnight the F1 circus will move to Canada. What might be the pecking order of the top teams at Montreal? Hopefully it will be the start of the season-lasting red empire!
Hamilton was the first driver in trouble with the hyper-soft tyres, and the Briton pitted already on lap 13. He switched to the purple-marked ultra-soft compound. At this point it really seemed, that Hamilton was on a two-stop strategy, as the early pit stop would have meant driving 60 laps on the ultra-softs, had the Briton been on a one-stopper! Hamilton re-joined the track in P6. Sebastian pitted three laps later, opting for the ultra-soft compound as well. The German Ferrari ace re-joined the track in P3, ahead of Bottas. The race leader Ricciardo pitted as well, for a fresh set of ultra-soft Pirellis and re-joined the track in the lead. Both Finns drove into the pits, too. Kimi opted for the ultra-soft compound, similar to his teammate. Bottas, however, switched to the red-marked super-soft rubber, after struggling massively on the softest compound. After re-joining the track, Bottas' pace on the fresh super-softs was extremely convincing and he was rapidly closing the gap to Hamilton and Kimi.
Around the halfway point of the race, Ricciardo was suddenly hit with a technical issue, and the Australian was losing power. Sebastian had closed the gap to Ricciardo, making it within DRS distance from the "Smiling Avenger". However, overtaking in Monaco is extremely difficult, even though the driver ahead of you has technical issues! In spite of Ricciardo´s technical woes Sebastian was unable to make a move on the race leader Ricciardo.
Verstappen pitted after completing 45 laps on the ultra-softs, and re-joined the track in P11. Ricciardo's pace in the lead left a lot to hope for, and his teammate was four seconds a lap faster on his fresh hyper-softs! With 25 laps to go, the top five drivers were all within five seconds! Verstappen was driving a brilliant race with no mistakes. He had a tight battle with Renault's Sainz for P9, the Dutchman finally getting the upper hand on the Spaniard.
The most dramatic moment of the race happened six laps before the chequered flag. Sauber's Leclerc was suddenly hit with a brake failure, which made the Monegasque to crash into Hartley's Toro Rosso. The crash destroyed the New Zealander's rear wing, and both drivers were out of the race. Virtual safety car was deployed. In spite of the virtual safety car, the top drivers stayed out despite their extremely worn tyres.
Virtual safety car ended with five laps to go. Ricciardo pulled out a five-second gap to Sebastian, who was struggling badly with his out-worn tyres. The Australian got his redemption, as he crossed the finish line as the race winner for the first time in Monaco! Sebastian finished the runner-up, with Hamilton completing the podium. It was amazing, that Hamilton was able to make the one-stop strategy work. Kimi finished fourth and Bottas fifth; this was the first time this season, that there were no Finns on the podium. Ocon finished stunning sixth for Force India, and Gasly made it a brilliant P7 for Toro Rosso. Renault's Hulkenberg, Red Bull's Verstappen and Renault's Sainz rounded out the top ten. Finishing in the points was an excellent result for Max, who had had a catastrophic Saturday due to the mistake of his own.
Sebastian decreased the gap to Hamilton in the drivers' championship standings, but by three points only. Hamilton now has 110 points to Sebastian's 96. Thanks to his victory, Ricciardo moved third with 72 points. Bottas is fourth with 68 points and Kimi fifth with 60 points. Mercedes' lead shrank into 22 points in the constructors' standings. With Ricciardo's superb win, Red Bull strengthened their position as the third best team.
Two weeks ago in Barcelona Mercedes was the team to beat. In Monaco the tables turned again, and Red Bull was the dominating team. In a fortnight the F1 circus will move to Canada. What might be the pecking order of the top teams at Montreal? Hopefully it will be the start of the season-lasting red empire!
Monaco GP / Qualifying: Second career pole for Ricciardo with an epic new track record!
Yesterday was a perfect day to watch the qualifying. I was sitting on the porch of our lakeside sauna. My twin sister was heating the sauna, while I concentrated on watching the qualifying on my cell phone. There´s no better scent in the summer than smoke coming out of the chimney, as the sauna is heated. The weather was as brilliant as it was in Monaco; the sun was shining and there were blue skies and +25 degrees Celsius. For that moment I was able to forget all my worries, and it was all about the shootout for Monaco pole.
Because I had been swimming earlier, I had missed the third free practice session. And what a dramatic session it had been for Red Bull´s Verstappen! With only 10 minutes remaining, the flying Dutchman had crashed his RB14 into the barrier! It had been almost an identical shunt to the one he had had two years earlier. The shunt proved extremely costly for Verstappen, as his RB14 needed a gearbox change, and the team proved unable to fix the car in time for the qualifying. I can only imagine, how devastated Max must have felt, as Red Bull had proved stunning pace, having topped all free practice session in the streets of the Municipality! So Max´s mistake-filled season seemed to continue, and the Dutchman had no choice but to witness his teammate´s outstanding pace in the garage.
All cars came out on the pink-marked hyper-softs right away, as Q1 got underway. Traffic is always a significant factor in the narrow streets of Monaco, so everyone wanted to set a banker lap already at the beginning of the session. Ricciardo continued his ultimate top form in the qualifying. Ferrari turned out to be Red Bull´s closest challenger, but in Q1 Ricciardo was massive four tenths adrift! Mercedes, which had been the team to beat two weeks ago in Barcelona, was now the distinct third-best team. Bottas escaped the drop zone not until at the very end of the first segment, jumping third. In addition to Verstappen, out of Q2 were Toro Rosso´s Hartley, Sauber´s Ericsson, Williams' Stroll and Haas' Magnussen. In turn Williams' Sirotkin stood out of the crowd by being 8th fastest, as well as the other Sauber of home hero Leclerc, who made it 9th in Q1.
In Q2 Mercedes chose to fit both Hamilton and Bottas with the ultrasoft tyres, while everyone else opted for the pink-marked hyper-soft compound. However, Hamilton reported on the team radio, that the tyres were "terrible", so the Mercedes drivers were forced to switch to the softest rubber for their second runs. Once again, Ricciardo shone alongside with the sun and topped the timesheets. Kimi showed top form as well, being only a tenth down on the Honey Badger. Sebastian was third and Hamilton fourth. Renault's Hulkenberg was the first driver to miss out on the last session. Out of Q3 were also McLaren's Vandoorne, Williams' Sirotkin, Sauber's Leclerc and Haas' Grosjean.
Ricciardo smashed the track record again in the final session. The Australian was the only driver to break into the 1m 10s, taking the provisional pole by 0.45s to Hamilton! It was extremely tight between Hamilton, Sebastian and Kimi, who were all within five thousandths of a second! Sebastian improved on his second run to jump Hamilton and go second quickest. The Briton had briefly set the timing screens purple in sector one on his final run, but in the end faded as the lap went on. But the day belonged to the Red Bull ace Ricciardo, whose first time lap was fast enough to make it on pole. The gap to Sebastian was two tenths. Hamilton qualified third and Kimi completed the second row. Bottas had to settle for P5, which is the lowest grid slot for the Finn since the season-opening Australian GP. Ocon made it stunning P6 for the pink Force India. McLaren's Alonso, Renault's Sainz, Force India's Perez and Toro Rosso's Gasly rounded out the top ten.
This was only the second career pole for the smiling Australian. The Honey Badger had made it on pole in Monaco two years ago, but Red Bull messed up his pit stop in the race, robbing him of the victory. This time Ricciardo definitely wants to turn the bitter memory into a glorious victory with a shoey. Teammate Verstappen, on the other hand, will start to the race from the very back of the grid. Overtaking chances are very tenuous in Monaco, so making it on the podium seems almost like a mission impossible for Max. Safety car usually plays a major role, as there´s no room for mistakes in the Municipality. The walls are close everywhere, and you have to keep up your concentration 100 %... Ferrari's only chance to beat the flying Ricciardo is to have more genius pit stop strategy than the Austrian team. But I believe in the red team from all my heart. I'm sure anything is possible in the glamorous Monte Carlo!
Because I had been swimming earlier, I had missed the third free practice session. And what a dramatic session it had been for Red Bull´s Verstappen! With only 10 minutes remaining, the flying Dutchman had crashed his RB14 into the barrier! It had been almost an identical shunt to the one he had had two years earlier. The shunt proved extremely costly for Verstappen, as his RB14 needed a gearbox change, and the team proved unable to fix the car in time for the qualifying. I can only imagine, how devastated Max must have felt, as Red Bull had proved stunning pace, having topped all free practice session in the streets of the Municipality! So Max´s mistake-filled season seemed to continue, and the Dutchman had no choice but to witness his teammate´s outstanding pace in the garage.
All cars came out on the pink-marked hyper-softs right away, as Q1 got underway. Traffic is always a significant factor in the narrow streets of Monaco, so everyone wanted to set a banker lap already at the beginning of the session. Ricciardo continued his ultimate top form in the qualifying. Ferrari turned out to be Red Bull´s closest challenger, but in Q1 Ricciardo was massive four tenths adrift! Mercedes, which had been the team to beat two weeks ago in Barcelona, was now the distinct third-best team. Bottas escaped the drop zone not until at the very end of the first segment, jumping third. In addition to Verstappen, out of Q2 were Toro Rosso´s Hartley, Sauber´s Ericsson, Williams' Stroll and Haas' Magnussen. In turn Williams' Sirotkin stood out of the crowd by being 8th fastest, as well as the other Sauber of home hero Leclerc, who made it 9th in Q1.
In Q2 Mercedes chose to fit both Hamilton and Bottas with the ultrasoft tyres, while everyone else opted for the pink-marked hyper-soft compound. However, Hamilton reported on the team radio, that the tyres were "terrible", so the Mercedes drivers were forced to switch to the softest rubber for their second runs. Once again, Ricciardo shone alongside with the sun and topped the timesheets. Kimi showed top form as well, being only a tenth down on the Honey Badger. Sebastian was third and Hamilton fourth. Renault's Hulkenberg was the first driver to miss out on the last session. Out of Q3 were also McLaren's Vandoorne, Williams' Sirotkin, Sauber's Leclerc and Haas' Grosjean.
Ricciardo smashed the track record again in the final session. The Australian was the only driver to break into the 1m 10s, taking the provisional pole by 0.45s to Hamilton! It was extremely tight between Hamilton, Sebastian and Kimi, who were all within five thousandths of a second! Sebastian improved on his second run to jump Hamilton and go second quickest. The Briton had briefly set the timing screens purple in sector one on his final run, but in the end faded as the lap went on. But the day belonged to the Red Bull ace Ricciardo, whose first time lap was fast enough to make it on pole. The gap to Sebastian was two tenths. Hamilton qualified third and Kimi completed the second row. Bottas had to settle for P5, which is the lowest grid slot for the Finn since the season-opening Australian GP. Ocon made it stunning P6 for the pink Force India. McLaren's Alonso, Renault's Sainz, Force India's Perez and Toro Rosso's Gasly rounded out the top ten.
This was only the second career pole for the smiling Australian. The Honey Badger had made it on pole in Monaco two years ago, but Red Bull messed up his pit stop in the race, robbing him of the victory. This time Ricciardo definitely wants to turn the bitter memory into a glorious victory with a shoey. Teammate Verstappen, on the other hand, will start to the race from the very back of the grid. Overtaking chances are very tenuous in Monaco, so making it on the podium seems almost like a mission impossible for Max. Safety car usually plays a major role, as there´s no room for mistakes in the Municipality. The walls are close everywhere, and you have to keep up your concentration 100 %... Ferrari's only chance to beat the flying Ricciardo is to have more genius pit stop strategy than the Austrian team. But I believe in the red team from all my heart. I'm sure anything is possible in the glamorous Monte Carlo!
maanantai 14. toukokuuta 2018
Spanish GP: Mercedes bounced back by taking 1-2!
After the first four races of the season I believed strongly, that Ferrari was the team to beat this season. Having said that, Mercedes bounced back massively at Barcelona. The Silver Arrows took their first front row lock-out of the season in qualifying, with Hamilton edging teammate Bottas by four hundredths of a second only! Ferrari had topped the timesheets in Q2, where all top three teams had opted for the yellow-marked soft Pirellis. But when it came down to the shootout for pole, Mercedes had the upper hand on the red team. Pirelli had renewed the tyres for the Spanish GP weekend, which led to an interesting tyre strategy in the final segment. Both Ferrari aces had had a tame first attempt, and both Kimi and Sebastian opted for the soft compound on their last run, as did Red Bull´s Ricciardo, too. Sebastian pipped teammate Kimi to 3rd, by a clear margin of three tenths. Red Bull locked down the third row, with Verstappen edging his Australian teammate by two thousandths of a second only! It was confusing, how small a margin there was between the soft and super-soft compound. Magnussen made a convincing job by finishing 7th for Haas, and Alonso qualified 8th for McLaren. Renault's Sainz and Haas' Grosjean rounded out the top ten.
Due to the teams' Q2 tyre strategy, Alonso was the only top ten driver to start to the race on the red-marked super-soft compound. The most exciting moment of the Spanish GP was the start. Hamilton on pole took an excellent start and maintained his lead. Sebastian in P3 took a rocket start and passed Bottas, who had started on the dirtier side of the track. Kimi maintained his fourth place, and the Iceman was followed by the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Ricciardo. Turn 3 was a true action zone further down in the pack. Haas' Grosjean lost control of his car and spun. But instead of hitting the brake pedal, the Frenchman kept his foot on the throttle, trying to spin his car back on the track. This led into a dangerous-looking situation, as both Gasly's Toro Rosso and Hulkenberg's Renault crashed into recklessly spinning Grosjean. All three were out of the race, and safety car was deployed, as there were loads of debris on the track. Sauber's Leclerc had had a stunning opening lap, as the Monegasque had gained five positions and was already in 9th.
The re-start took place on lap 6, and the pecking order of the top eight drivers remained unchanged. Hamilton started to bang amazing lap times, which no one else was able to match. Circuit de Catalunya is known for very limited chances for overtaking, so Bottas, either wasn't able to challenge Sebastian for P3. Hamilton's pace was in a class of his own. The Briton was half a second faster than his rivals, so Mercedes really had found their missing pace!
Sebastian opened the pit stop roulette on lap 17. He pitted for a fresh set of white-marked medium Pirellis, and re-joined the track in P7. Bottas drove into the pits a couple of laps later, opting for a similar tyre choice to Sebastian, but the Finn's pit stop took 1.5s too long. Due to Bottas' delayed pit stop, Sebastian managed to stay ahead of the Finn. However, black clouds started to gather upon Ferrari on lap 25, as Kimi's SF71-H was hit with a technical failure. Kimi's superb P2 turned into a bitter DNF, and the Iceman had no choice but to drive into the pits and retire. Meanwhile, Hamilton pitted for a fresh set of medium Pirellis, re-joining the track in P2. Red Bull's Verstappen was now leading the race.
The Red Bulls pitted on the sequential laps, Ricciardo on lap 35 and Verstappen on lap 36, both opting for the hardest compound. Hamilton was back in the lead, with Sebastian second and Bottas third. Lap 42 saw a surprising turn, as Sebastian pitted for the second time, for another set of medium Pirellis. Everything didn't go to plan in terms of the pit stop, and it cost the German a couple of extra seconds. Virtual safety car had been deployed due to Ocon's power unit failure. This strategic call with the delay made Sebastian drop down to P4, behind Bottas and Verstappen. Ferrari seemed to have expected Mercedes to make second pit stops as well. However, Mercedes didn't call their drivers in despite the virtual safety car!
By that point it had seemed, that Verstappen was finally driving a clean race after the mistake-filled first four races. But on lap 43 there was an inconceivable situation, where the Dutchman crashed into the rear of Stroll's Williams, causing an end plate damage on the Dutchman's front wing. This looked like an open opportunity for Sebastian to get past the flying Dutchman. However, in spite of the front wing damage, Verstappen´s pace remained amazingly competitive.
With ten laps to go, Hamilton had very a dominant lead of 17 seconds over his Finnish teammate. Verstappen was third and Sebastian fourth. It seemed impossible to get within DRS distance from the driver ahead, so there were no tight battles for positions at Circuit de Catalunya, which made the Spanish GP quite boring honestly. Ricciardo, who finished 5th for Red Bull, was the last driver on the same lap with the race winner Hamilton. Magnussen (Haas), Sainz (Renault), Alonso (McLaren), Perez (Force India) and Leclerc (Sauber) were all a lap down already. This was the first 1-2 for Mercedes this season, and it came in a dominant way. I was happy to see Verstappen on the podium, because he really needed a great result! But I would have wanted to see Sebastian there as well...
The turning point in the race was the second pit stop, which was costly for Sebastian. Hadn't it been delayed, Sebastian would have made it on the podium. But obviously it was a wrong tactical call from the red team, as Mercedes managed to make the one-stop strategy work. By winning the second successive race, Hamilton increased his lead to Sebastian into 17 points in the drivers' championship standings. Bottas in 3rd is now 20 points down on Sebastian, and Kimi in 4th is 10 points down on his fellow countryman. Mercedes now seems to be back on top form and the team to beat, as the Silver Arrows have a 27-point gap to Ferrari in the constructors' championship standings. The red team definitely have some home work to do before going to the legendary Monaco!
Due to the teams' Q2 tyre strategy, Alonso was the only top ten driver to start to the race on the red-marked super-soft compound. The most exciting moment of the Spanish GP was the start. Hamilton on pole took an excellent start and maintained his lead. Sebastian in P3 took a rocket start and passed Bottas, who had started on the dirtier side of the track. Kimi maintained his fourth place, and the Iceman was followed by the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Ricciardo. Turn 3 was a true action zone further down in the pack. Haas' Grosjean lost control of his car and spun. But instead of hitting the brake pedal, the Frenchman kept his foot on the throttle, trying to spin his car back on the track. This led into a dangerous-looking situation, as both Gasly's Toro Rosso and Hulkenberg's Renault crashed into recklessly spinning Grosjean. All three were out of the race, and safety car was deployed, as there were loads of debris on the track. Sauber's Leclerc had had a stunning opening lap, as the Monegasque had gained five positions and was already in 9th.
The re-start took place on lap 6, and the pecking order of the top eight drivers remained unchanged. Hamilton started to bang amazing lap times, which no one else was able to match. Circuit de Catalunya is known for very limited chances for overtaking, so Bottas, either wasn't able to challenge Sebastian for P3. Hamilton's pace was in a class of his own. The Briton was half a second faster than his rivals, so Mercedes really had found their missing pace!
Sebastian opened the pit stop roulette on lap 17. He pitted for a fresh set of white-marked medium Pirellis, and re-joined the track in P7. Bottas drove into the pits a couple of laps later, opting for a similar tyre choice to Sebastian, but the Finn's pit stop took 1.5s too long. Due to Bottas' delayed pit stop, Sebastian managed to stay ahead of the Finn. However, black clouds started to gather upon Ferrari on lap 25, as Kimi's SF71-H was hit with a technical failure. Kimi's superb P2 turned into a bitter DNF, and the Iceman had no choice but to drive into the pits and retire. Meanwhile, Hamilton pitted for a fresh set of medium Pirellis, re-joining the track in P2. Red Bull's Verstappen was now leading the race.
The Red Bulls pitted on the sequential laps, Ricciardo on lap 35 and Verstappen on lap 36, both opting for the hardest compound. Hamilton was back in the lead, with Sebastian second and Bottas third. Lap 42 saw a surprising turn, as Sebastian pitted for the second time, for another set of medium Pirellis. Everything didn't go to plan in terms of the pit stop, and it cost the German a couple of extra seconds. Virtual safety car had been deployed due to Ocon's power unit failure. This strategic call with the delay made Sebastian drop down to P4, behind Bottas and Verstappen. Ferrari seemed to have expected Mercedes to make second pit stops as well. However, Mercedes didn't call their drivers in despite the virtual safety car!
By that point it had seemed, that Verstappen was finally driving a clean race after the mistake-filled first four races. But on lap 43 there was an inconceivable situation, where the Dutchman crashed into the rear of Stroll's Williams, causing an end plate damage on the Dutchman's front wing. This looked like an open opportunity for Sebastian to get past the flying Dutchman. However, in spite of the front wing damage, Verstappen´s pace remained amazingly competitive.
With ten laps to go, Hamilton had very a dominant lead of 17 seconds over his Finnish teammate. Verstappen was third and Sebastian fourth. It seemed impossible to get within DRS distance from the driver ahead, so there were no tight battles for positions at Circuit de Catalunya, which made the Spanish GP quite boring honestly. Ricciardo, who finished 5th for Red Bull, was the last driver on the same lap with the race winner Hamilton. Magnussen (Haas), Sainz (Renault), Alonso (McLaren), Perez (Force India) and Leclerc (Sauber) were all a lap down already. This was the first 1-2 for Mercedes this season, and it came in a dominant way. I was happy to see Verstappen on the podium, because he really needed a great result! But I would have wanted to see Sebastian there as well...
The turning point in the race was the second pit stop, which was costly for Sebastian. Hadn't it been delayed, Sebastian would have made it on the podium. But obviously it was a wrong tactical call from the red team, as Mercedes managed to make the one-stop strategy work. By winning the second successive race, Hamilton increased his lead to Sebastian into 17 points in the drivers' championship standings. Bottas in 3rd is now 20 points down on Sebastian, and Kimi in 4th is 10 points down on his fellow countryman. Mercedes now seems to be back on top form and the team to beat, as the Silver Arrows have a 27-point gap to Ferrari in the constructors' championship standings. The red team definitely have some home work to do before going to the legendary Monaco!
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