What a start the Belgian GP had! Kimi got an excellent start from P3, and the Finn was determinedly challenging the Red Bull teenager Verstappen into Turn 1. Max was in the inside and Kimi in the outside, when suddenly Kimi´s teammate Sebastian turned in and hit his teammate! Kimi had nowhere to go and he couldn´t avoid hitting Verstappen as well. Oh gosh, it was like a horror film scene -all my three favourites hitting each other! Kimi´s front wing was seriously damaged and he had to limp into the pits. In the pits there were flames coming from the floor of Kimi´s SF16-H and the team had difficulties to get the new front wing changed. Íceman´s race was practically ruined! What was Sebastian thinking when turning into Turn 1?
On the opening lap Toro Rosso´s Sainz´s rear tyre exploded and his car suffered severe damage. Virtual safety car was deployed, as there was a lot of debris on the track. Rosberg was leading the race and teammate Hamilton had already jumped 12th after starting from the back row. Kimi on the other hand was down in P19. The race didn´t look too good for the Iceman... The other Finn Bottas, who had also started to the race on the super soft Pirellis, was now in P4.
After the virtual safety car the race was on only for a couple of laps, until there was another incident. Renault´s Magnussen hit the kerb on the top of Eau Rouge and lost control of his car, which lead into a massive shunt into the barriers. Magnussen´s car turned into a total wreck, so it was a small miracle that the Dane didn´t get badly hurt. He got a wound on his ankle but got out of the car on his own. Safety car was deployed, which started the pit stop roulette. Kimi came in for a fresh set of soft tyres. Williams, on the other hand, decided to call Bottas in not until a lap later, which turned out to be a wrong call, as the Finn lost many positions and dropped down to P12.
Some four laps later the race was red-flagged, as there was so massive damage in the tyre barrier after Magnussen´s crash. All cars pitted and waited for the restart. Verstappen stepped out of his RB12 and rushed to the pit wall to explain, what had happened in the first-lap incident between him and the Ferrari duo. This time Verstappen wasn´t to be blamed for the collision, which was Team Principal Horner´s opinion as well.
After a ten minutes´ wait the race was restarted behind the safety car. Rosberg was leading the race with Red Bull´s Ricciardo second. Force India´s Hulkenberg was third, McLaren´s Alonso surprisingly 4th and Hamilton already fifth! Kimi started the chase and jumped two positions immediately. This brought the Finn behind Red Bull´s Verstappen; it´s funny how these two have tended to find each other on the track this season! Once again there was an electrical and heated battle between these two; Kimi managed to get past the flying Dutchman after their tyres had slightly touched. Both, however, ended up going off track and Kimi was asking on the team radio, whether he had to give Verstappen the place back, which he finally did. Once again Max was in "the grey area" when defending his position against the determined Iceman. A few laps later Max pitted, which made Kimi´s race a little easier.
By lap 18 Hamilton had made it past Hulkenberg and the Briton was already in P3, which was quite amazing in terms of his starting position. In the halfway point of the race Hamilton pitted for a fresh set of soft Pirellis but had a small delay during his pit stop -the Briton re-joined the track in P9. Towards the end of the race Sebastian started snatching positions one by one. First the German passed Massa in his Williams and then Alonso in his McLaren. Teammate Kimi also made his way past Massa but couldn´t quite challenge his compatriot Bottas for P8.
Rosberg had no difficulties whatsoever and cruised to victory on a 2-stop strategy. Red Bull´s Ricciardo was the runner-up (2stops as well) with Hamilton completing the podium on a 3-stop strategy. Force India made an impressive job at Spa, as Hulkenberg finished 4th and Perez 5th. Sebastian had to settle for P6. Alonso, who had also started to the race from the very back of the grid, finished 7th, which was quite impressive. Bottas finished 8th, Kimi 9th (4 stops!) and Massa completed the top ten. I would be lying, if I said I wasn´t disappointed at Kimi´s result. The Iceman had had such a stunning start, but collision caused by his teammate had ruined his race! That was the case in terms of home hero Verstappen as well, who ended up finishing 11th. His pace was gone after the first-turn incident!
Sebastian seems to be struggling with his pace, right as I wrote yesterday. He definitely doesn´t seem to be happy with the car and the way things are going at the moment... Sebastian´s ex trainer Tommi Pärmäkoski was visiting the Finnish MTV Formula 1 studio today, and spectators were asked to post questions for him on Twitter. I posted a question as well, and I was so so happy that my question was picked among those, that Tommi answered in the post-race broadcast. My question was about Sebastian´s weaknesses both as a racing driver and as a person, if there were any. I wrote my question before the start of the race -what a relevant question it turned out after the race start! Tommi replied in a way, which I kind of expected; Sebastian feels very comfortable when he´s happy with his car and when everything is going according to plan. He´s an absolute perfectionist, and things can get difficult, when he gets beaten by his teammate for example... If I´m asked, who was at fault in the first-corner incident today, I say it was Sebastian, as he left absolutely no room for his teammate. But I want Sebastian to know, that I support him always, no matter what happens on track! Everyone makes mistakes. Nevertheless, I´m a fan of Sebastian from all my heart!
After the race Twitter was full of angry and hatred-filled tweets about Verstappen and his driving. I have very opposite feelings about this young man! He may make some questionable moves when defending his position, but today for instance, he wasn´t even taken into investigation by the stewards for his actions. For me it means he hasn´t done anything against the rules. Max definitely stands out of the crowd. His driving style is risky but passionate and bold. This Dutch teenager divides opinions, but so have all great Formula 1 drivers done, just to mention Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna. So I´m not ashamed to say that I´m a huge fan of Max Verstappen!
What an F1 weekend this has been! I´m still writing this blog post in an adrenaline rush, overwhelmed with so many emotions... Which is what makes Formula 1 racing so amazing! And round 14 will be already next week at Monza, can´t wait!
P.S. Hamilton is still leading the championship standings, but now Nico is only 9 points down on his teammate...
P.P.S. My thoughts can be read also here: http://sfcriga.com/belgian-gp-2016
Ei kommentteja:
Lähetä kommentti