The sun has set a long time ago and I'm sitting in the kitchen in candlelight. It's almost midnight here in Finland. Writing is my therapy now.
There was bad news for Alfa Romeo Racing's Kimi Räikkönen already before the start. The Iceman had been excluded from the qualifying results due to a front wing flexibility issue. This meant, that Kimi was going to start to the race from the pit lane, alongside Red Bull's Gasly. Ferrari's Leclerc was the only top ten driver to start to the race on the medium compound, which gave the Monegasque a potential advantage in terms of the first stint. The lights out started a wheel-banging dual between the Mercedes teammates. Hamilton got a slightly better ignition from P2, making it alongside pole-sitter Bottas. They were driving side by side, but with mutual respect. Going into Turn 3, Bottas determinedly took his lead, leaving Hamilton behind. Sebastian followed the Silver Arrows in P3. It was a little surprising to see, that Racing Point's Perez in P5 put serious pressure on Red Bull's Verstappen. On lap 3 the Mexican made his move on the stubborn Dutchman, and with the help of DRS he snatched P4. However, the Dutchman's revenge took place some three laps later, as he attacked Perez on the main straight, claiming back his fourth place.
The pit stops were predicted to happen around lap 20, but Kimi came in already on lap 7. He switched to the medium rubber and re-joined the track at the back of the pack. Meanwhile, Bottas had built up a small gap to his teammate and was controlling the race. At this point Leclerc's pace was extremely consistent; on the medium Pirellis he was almost a second faster than race leader Bottas. The young Ferrari pilot was in P5, but he was definitely having a podium finish in his mind.
Sebastian was the first top driver to pit on lap 12. The German re-joined the track on a fresh set of yellow-marked medium Pirellis, behind Verstappen in P5. Mercedes were forced to react, and race leader Bottas was called in a lap later, for a similar tyre choice to Sebastian. On lap 14 it was Hamilton's turn to pit, and Leclerc moved to the lead. Towards the halfway point of the race, the Monegasque still hadn't pitted yet. His mediums were out-worn, and he was losing pace lap by lap.
On lap 30 the battle between the top three was extremely intense. Leclerc had only one-second gap to Bottas, and teammate Hamilton was only a second down on the reborn Finn. There were all ingredients for an epic battle for the victory, although Leclerc hadn't done his pit stop yet. However, with his dying tyres, Leclerc had very little chances to defend his lead against the Mercedes. On lap 32 Bottas attacked the Ferrari ace, snatching the lead back to himself. Hamilton repeated his teammate's move on a sequential lap, jumping second.
Meanwhile, there was a bizarre and even comic incident between Renault's Ricciardo and Toro Rosso's Kvyat. They were battling for positions, and they both missed the corner, ending up wide. Ricciardo was in a panic to re-join the track as fast as he could, so he ended up reversing into Kvyat's Toro Rosso! This silly mistake ended the race for both of them.
Sebastian had also closed the gap to his teammate, who was struggling badly with his dying tyres. There was no drama; Leclerc let his teammate past. The Monegasque pitted not until on lap 35, for a fresh set of soft Pirellis. He re-joined the track in P6, behind the Red Bull duo of Verstappen and Gasly. However, a lap later Charles was already at Gasly's tail, and overtaking in the DRS zone was only a formality for the Ferrari's future star.
With 12 laps to go, Gasly's RB15 was suddenly hit with a technical failure, and the Frenchman had to stop his car on the track. This brought out virtual safety car. With only five laps to go, the battle between the Mercedes teammates evolved fiery. Hamilton had made it almost within DRS distance from the fighting Finn. There was no room for errors. Ferrari took Leclerc in for the second time, as the Monegasque was in a safe fifth place. On the fresh soft tyres he was hungry to take the fastest lap time and the extra point under his belt. With two laps to go, Hamilton was already within less than a second from his teammate. Valtteri kept his head cool, giving Hamilton no chance to attack him. On the second last lap, Hamilton made a small mistake, trying to chase his teammate, and this resolved the battle in favor of Valtteri. The flying Finn set the fastest lap time on the second last lap, only to be deprived of it by Leclerc on the penultimate lap!
Sensational Valtteri led Mercedes into the unbelievable fourth 1-2 this season. Sebastian completed the podium, which I was happy about. Verstappen finished fourth and Leclerc fifth. Against my expectations, Leclerc's pace on the soft tyres hadn't proved as competitive as on the medium ones. Perez has been on the podium twice in Baku, but this time he was left sixth. McLaren achieved an excellent result, as Sainz finished 7th and Norris 8th. Stroll completed a good result for Racing Point by finishing 9th. Kimi was the last driver to score points on the narrow streets of Baku. Kimi has now scored points for Alfa Romeo Racing in every race this season.
Valtteri has now made it back in the drivers' championship lead, but only by one point to his teammate. Sebastian jumped third in the standings, but he is already 35 points down on Valtteri. Verstappen, on the other hand, is only one point off Sebastian. In terms of the constructors' standings the battle isn't as thrilling. Mercedes have dominated the beginning of the season overwhelmingly, and they now have 173 points to the Red Team's 99.
Round 5 brings the F1 circus to Europe in a fortnight. Hopefully the new updates for the SF90 will help the Red Team to turn around the pecking order.
Kimi Räikkönen & Sebastian Vettel
maanantai 29. huhtikuuta 2019
lauantai 27. huhtikuuta 2019
Azerbaijan GP / Qualifying: Eventful qualifying saw "Bottas 2.0" snatch pole!
Life is so controversial. Two years ago on this day I was at Sochi paddock meeting and interviewing Sebastian Vettel. Today I'm in a situation, in which even Formula 1 feels meaningless. My heart has been ripped into a million pieces, and there's nothing but endless grief at the moment. My 16-year-old son passed away last Sunday after spending three weeks in the intensive care unit. The doctors did everything they could, but not even the best treatment in the world was able to cure my son. With overwhelming grief I try to stick to my routines, such as watching Formula 1.
Azerbaijan, "The Land of Fire" hosts the Grand Prix weekend for the fourth time. Ferrari had set the pace in the free practice sessions, as Mercedes had been struggling especially with the tyres. Getting the tyres warmed up to the right temperature had proved more difficult for the Silver Arrows than for Ferrari. Sebastian went fastest on his first run in Q1, edging arch rival Hamilton only by 0.082s. The dusty Baku Street Circuit showed also its tricky side. Renault's Hulkenberg and Mercedes' Hamilton went wide on their first runs, and Racing Point's Stroll touched the wall. In terms of the second attempts, flying Leclerc set the fastest lap time and snatched the top spot in the standings. Red Bull had a modest start to the qualifying, as Verstappen was only able to make it 11th on his first flyer. On the other hand, teammate Gasly's second run was absolutely outstanding, setting the benchmark for everyone else, as there were only four minutes left in the clock. It was an impressive effort, even though the Frenchman benefited from tow. Verstappen, too raised the bar and jumped fourth. When there were only a few seconds remaining in the clock, Kubica crashed his Williams into the wall in Turn 8, which is the narrowest part of the circuit. The session was red-flagged. Racing Point's Stroll, Haas' Grosjean, Renault's Hulkenberg and the Williams duo were out of the second session.
The second segment was delayed by half an hour, as the marshals were cleaning up debris and fixing the barrier in Turn 8. Mercedes and Ferrari had a different tyre strategy for Q2. The Silver Arrows came out on the red-marked soft tyres, whilst the red-suited drivers opted for the yellow-marked medium compound. Verstappen went fastest on soft Pirellis, and the flying Dutchman was followed by the Mercedes duo of Bottas and Hamilton. Due to the medium rubber, Leclerc set the 5th fastest lap time. Teammate Sebastian's attempt left a lot to hope for, as the German was able to make it only 11th on his first run. Alfa Romeo Racing's performance seemed extremely promising, as Kimi made it 6th after getting slipstream from his teammate Giovinazzi. However, Turn 8 required another casualty in Q2. Leclerc was pushing his SF90 to the limit, and trying too hard came with a high price. Leclerc crashed into the same tyre wall, which Kubica had ended up into only a moment earlier. Once again, the session was red-flagged. There was another half-an-hour delay, as the marshals had to fix everything again. As the session was finally resumed, the sun had already started to set, and the cooling temperatures had affected the track conditions. Red Bull sat out the second half of the session. Verstappen had no need to go out again, and Gasly was going to start to the race from the pit lane, due to a weighbridge infringement on Friday. Sebastian had to opt for a fresh set of soft tyres at the end of the session, as another try on the medium rubber would have been too risky. He managed to do two flyers, making it 5th in the standings in the end. It was a positive surprise to see both Alfa Romeos make it into the final segment. Leclerc's lap time was competitive enough to get the Monegasque into Q3, although his qualifying was over after the crash. In addition to Gasly, McLaren's Sainz, Renault's Ricciardo, Toro Rosso's Albon and Haas' Magnussen were knocked out of the third session.
As Leclerc had crashed out in Q2, I expected it to be even easy for Sebastian to conquer pole. But once again the Mercs were there, when it mattered. Once again I've gotten a bitter lesson, that you can never write off the Mercs! Hamilton took provisional pole, with a four-tenth gap to Sebastian. After the first runs Bottas was third and Verstappen fourth. On the contrary to his rivals, Max drove another flyer on the same set of tyres, jumping second. But there was more to come from the reborn Valtteri Bottas. The Finn put together a phenomenal lap at the end of the session, making it on pole by 0.059s to his teammate! Although Ferrari were the favorites for pole today, somehow it ended up a front-row lock-out for Mercedes, again! Sebastian was left third, three tenths off the pace. Verstappen qualified fourth for Red Bull and Perez fifth for Racing Point. This time it was Kvyat, who managed to deliver at the wheel of Toro Rosso, as the Russian qualified impressive sixth. McLaren's Norris, Alfa Romeo Racing's Giovinazzi and Räikkönen and Ferrari's Leclerc rounded out the top ten. It was the first time for the Italian to have out-qualified Kimi this season. Although Giovinazzi has been handed a 10-place grid penalty for a power unit element change.
Although I will be watching the race through my black glasses of sorrow, I'm sure the race will offer plenty of events and action-packed moments. Tiny mistakes come with a high price. The Mercedes driver, who dives first into Turn 1, will probably win the race. Unless there are some unexpected turns... Some red-colored unexpected turns would be extremely nice.
Azerbaijan, "The Land of Fire" hosts the Grand Prix weekend for the fourth time. Ferrari had set the pace in the free practice sessions, as Mercedes had been struggling especially with the tyres. Getting the tyres warmed up to the right temperature had proved more difficult for the Silver Arrows than for Ferrari. Sebastian went fastest on his first run in Q1, edging arch rival Hamilton only by 0.082s. The dusty Baku Street Circuit showed also its tricky side. Renault's Hulkenberg and Mercedes' Hamilton went wide on their first runs, and Racing Point's Stroll touched the wall. In terms of the second attempts, flying Leclerc set the fastest lap time and snatched the top spot in the standings. Red Bull had a modest start to the qualifying, as Verstappen was only able to make it 11th on his first flyer. On the other hand, teammate Gasly's second run was absolutely outstanding, setting the benchmark for everyone else, as there were only four minutes left in the clock. It was an impressive effort, even though the Frenchman benefited from tow. Verstappen, too raised the bar and jumped fourth. When there were only a few seconds remaining in the clock, Kubica crashed his Williams into the wall in Turn 8, which is the narrowest part of the circuit. The session was red-flagged. Racing Point's Stroll, Haas' Grosjean, Renault's Hulkenberg and the Williams duo were out of the second session.
The second segment was delayed by half an hour, as the marshals were cleaning up debris and fixing the barrier in Turn 8. Mercedes and Ferrari had a different tyre strategy for Q2. The Silver Arrows came out on the red-marked soft tyres, whilst the red-suited drivers opted for the yellow-marked medium compound. Verstappen went fastest on soft Pirellis, and the flying Dutchman was followed by the Mercedes duo of Bottas and Hamilton. Due to the medium rubber, Leclerc set the 5th fastest lap time. Teammate Sebastian's attempt left a lot to hope for, as the German was able to make it only 11th on his first run. Alfa Romeo Racing's performance seemed extremely promising, as Kimi made it 6th after getting slipstream from his teammate Giovinazzi. However, Turn 8 required another casualty in Q2. Leclerc was pushing his SF90 to the limit, and trying too hard came with a high price. Leclerc crashed into the same tyre wall, which Kubica had ended up into only a moment earlier. Once again, the session was red-flagged. There was another half-an-hour delay, as the marshals had to fix everything again. As the session was finally resumed, the sun had already started to set, and the cooling temperatures had affected the track conditions. Red Bull sat out the second half of the session. Verstappen had no need to go out again, and Gasly was going to start to the race from the pit lane, due to a weighbridge infringement on Friday. Sebastian had to opt for a fresh set of soft tyres at the end of the session, as another try on the medium rubber would have been too risky. He managed to do two flyers, making it 5th in the standings in the end. It was a positive surprise to see both Alfa Romeos make it into the final segment. Leclerc's lap time was competitive enough to get the Monegasque into Q3, although his qualifying was over after the crash. In addition to Gasly, McLaren's Sainz, Renault's Ricciardo, Toro Rosso's Albon and Haas' Magnussen were knocked out of the third session.
As Leclerc had crashed out in Q2, I expected it to be even easy for Sebastian to conquer pole. But once again the Mercs were there, when it mattered. Once again I've gotten a bitter lesson, that you can never write off the Mercs! Hamilton took provisional pole, with a four-tenth gap to Sebastian. After the first runs Bottas was third and Verstappen fourth. On the contrary to his rivals, Max drove another flyer on the same set of tyres, jumping second. But there was more to come from the reborn Valtteri Bottas. The Finn put together a phenomenal lap at the end of the session, making it on pole by 0.059s to his teammate! Although Ferrari were the favorites for pole today, somehow it ended up a front-row lock-out for Mercedes, again! Sebastian was left third, three tenths off the pace. Verstappen qualified fourth for Red Bull and Perez fifth for Racing Point. This time it was Kvyat, who managed to deliver at the wheel of Toro Rosso, as the Russian qualified impressive sixth. McLaren's Norris, Alfa Romeo Racing's Giovinazzi and Räikkönen and Ferrari's Leclerc rounded out the top ten. It was the first time for the Italian to have out-qualified Kimi this season. Although Giovinazzi has been handed a 10-place grid penalty for a power unit element change.
Although I will be watching the race through my black glasses of sorrow, I'm sure the race will offer plenty of events and action-packed moments. Tiny mistakes come with a high price. The Mercedes driver, who dives first into Turn 1, will probably win the race. Unless there are some unexpected turns... Some red-colored unexpected turns would be extremely nice.
sunnuntai 14. huhtikuuta 2019
Chinese GP: Three 1-2s in three races for Mercedes!
I watched the race at home, before I headed back to the hospital. I had been looking forward to a colorful and action-packed race. It turned out an eventful race, but not in a way I had hoped for.
2019 Chinese GP marked the 1000th race in the F1 history. Who would get the honor to win it? The lights out was a thrilling moment. Pole-sitter Bottas suffered from wheel spin, which was caused by the white line on the start straight, and teammate Hamilton stormed past Valtteri. Ferrari debutant Leclerc had an advantage over his teammate, going into tricky Turn 1, and snatched P3. Verstappen in his RB15 in P5 was right at Sebastian's tail. The top drivers had a clean start, but unfortunately the start wasn't crash-free in the midfield. Toro Rosso's Kvyat first hit McLaren's Norris, which led into contact between the McLaren teammates. All three were able to continue the race. Virtual safety car was deployed, as there was some debris on the track.
After the start Kimi was in P12. The Iceman's performance seemed extremely competitive against the Haas drivers. First Kimi hunted down Magnussen, and made a flawless overtaking move on the Dane. A couple of laps later the Iceman attacked Haas teammate Grosjean, with no difficulty to overtake the Frenchman. Kimi had now moved 10th, with valuable points in his sight.
Meanwhile, Sebastian seemed irritated after losing the third place to his young teammate. The teammates were already within DRS distance, and Sebastian told on the team radio, that he was faster than Leclerc. The Monegasque was told on the team radio to push and go faster, but Sebastian continued following his teammate closely. On lap 11 we heard a team order from Ferrari; Leclerc was told to let Sebastian past. Charles had no option but to obey the team order. Sebastian moved past, snatching back his third place. However, Sebastian didn't manage to pull away from his teammate. The German was under pressure, and he locked up his front tyres a couple of times, trying desperately to pull away from his hungry teammate.
Verstappen opened the pit stop roulette on lap 18, pitting for a fresh set of hard tyres. The Dutchman re-joined the track in P8. Ferrari had to react to Verstappen's strategy, so the Red Team called Sebastian in. The German switched to the white-walled hard tyres, re-joining the track ahead of Verstappen. But the flying Dutchman immediately smelled Sebastian's blood and was like a rattle snake, ready to attack any moment. Max left his braking unbelievably late, and dived alongside Sebastian! For a short moment it seemed, as if Max had been able to get past, but this time Sebastian controlled his nerves and kept his head cool. The irritated German managed to stay ahead of Max, just barely.
Towards the halfway point of the race, Bottas and Hamilton pitted on the sequential laps, also for a fresh set of hard Pirellis. Hamilton maintained his lead, with his teammate second. Leclerc lost the fourth place to Verstappen during his pit stop, as the Red Bull pilot benefited from the undercut. This meant, that Ferrari's team order proved extremely costly for Leclerc, who had lost two positions compared to the opening lap. Kimi dropped down to P11 during his pit stop, and both Haas drivers managed to get ahead of the Iceman. This wasn't a problem for Kimi, who made two more glorious overtakes!
On lap 30 Hamilton was leading the race, with a safe 3-second gap to his Finnish teammate. Sebastian in P3 proved absolutely toothless against the Silver Arrows, and he was already 11 seconds down on the race leader. Verstappen in P4 was no threat for Sebastian, and Leclerc's chances to challenge Verstappen didn't seem very realistic, either.
Verstappen opened also the second round of pit stops. The Dutchman pitted on lap 35, this time for a fresh set of medium Pirellis. Once again, the Red Team had to react, and Sebastian was called in right away. The German managed to stay ahead of Max, with a significant 8-second margin. A lap later Mercedes called both drivers in for a double pit stop, with Hamilton first. The Mercedes aces, too opted for the yellow-marked medium rubber. Hamilton re-joined the track in the lead, but teammate Bottas re-joined the track right behind Leclerc in P3. Valtteri's pace on the fresh tyres was much more competitive, but Leclerc had been told to slow the Finn down as much as he could. Bottas lost valuable time fighting behind the Monegasque. Finally Valtteri managed to squeeze past Leclerc on the long straight.
Leclerc was struggling on his out-worn hard tyres, and Sebastian swept past his teammate on lap 43. Charles pitted right away, also for a fresh set of medium rubber. He re-joined the track in P5. With ten laps to go, the gaps between the top five were quite solid, with no on-track battles going on. Kimi in P9, on the other hand, was right at Perez's tail, trying to find a chance for an overtaking move. At this point it seemed, as if P7 had been within Kimi's grasp, as Renault's Ricciardo in P7 was only a couple of seconds ahead of Perez.
With only three laps to go, the fastest lap time was under Sebastian's belt. However, Red Bull's Gasly pitted from P6 for a fresh set of red-marked soft compound, with the intention to set the fastest lap time at the end. And unfortunately the Frenchman deprived Sebastian of the fastest lap time, which is worth an extra point! Hamilton drove to the chequered flag as the race winner, with Bottas making it already the third 1-2 for Mercedes this season. This is quite a historic statistic detail, as three 1-2s for the same team at the beginning of the season was last achieved by Williams in 1992! The 1000th Grand Prix of the F1 history marked the 75th win for the reigning world champion. Sebastian completed the podium, with Verstappen fourth and Leclerc fifth. Gasly finished the race sixth, in spite of his second pit stop. Ricciardo finally managed to deliver at the wheel of Renault, bringing his car to the chequered flag in impressive P7. Perez managed to keep the Iceman behind him in the end, scoring three valuable points for Racing Point. Toro Rosso's Albon scored the last point, which was an excellent result from the Thai driver, as he had been forced to start to the race from the pit lane.
With this result, Hamilton snatched the championship lead from his teammate by six points. Verstappen has 39 points to Hamilton's 68. Sebastian moved fourth in the standings, with a 2-point gap to Verstappen and only one-point gap to his teammate. Mercedes are in a class of their own in the constructors' championship standings, as they have massive 130 points to the Red Team's 73. Behind Red Bull (3rd in the standings) the battle is extremely tight. Renault and Alfa Romeo Racing share the joint 4th place with 12 points.
Sebastian made it on the podium thanks to the team orders today. I'm sure this isn't the way he wants to succeed and beat his teammate. He can do better than that! The harmony has shaken within the team, which may have many consequences throughout the season. Personally, I don't think the team orders is the right solution at the beginning of the season. The drivers should be free to race, and whoever of the drivers has more points towards the end of the season, should then be promoted "the number one driver". You have to earn the status on track. I'm quite sure that deep down in his heart Sebastian isn't satisfied with today's result.
2019 Chinese GP marked the 1000th race in the F1 history. Who would get the honor to win it? The lights out was a thrilling moment. Pole-sitter Bottas suffered from wheel spin, which was caused by the white line on the start straight, and teammate Hamilton stormed past Valtteri. Ferrari debutant Leclerc had an advantage over his teammate, going into tricky Turn 1, and snatched P3. Verstappen in his RB15 in P5 was right at Sebastian's tail. The top drivers had a clean start, but unfortunately the start wasn't crash-free in the midfield. Toro Rosso's Kvyat first hit McLaren's Norris, which led into contact between the McLaren teammates. All three were able to continue the race. Virtual safety car was deployed, as there was some debris on the track.
After the start Kimi was in P12. The Iceman's performance seemed extremely competitive against the Haas drivers. First Kimi hunted down Magnussen, and made a flawless overtaking move on the Dane. A couple of laps later the Iceman attacked Haas teammate Grosjean, with no difficulty to overtake the Frenchman. Kimi had now moved 10th, with valuable points in his sight.
Meanwhile, Sebastian seemed irritated after losing the third place to his young teammate. The teammates were already within DRS distance, and Sebastian told on the team radio, that he was faster than Leclerc. The Monegasque was told on the team radio to push and go faster, but Sebastian continued following his teammate closely. On lap 11 we heard a team order from Ferrari; Leclerc was told to let Sebastian past. Charles had no option but to obey the team order. Sebastian moved past, snatching back his third place. However, Sebastian didn't manage to pull away from his teammate. The German was under pressure, and he locked up his front tyres a couple of times, trying desperately to pull away from his hungry teammate.
Verstappen opened the pit stop roulette on lap 18, pitting for a fresh set of hard tyres. The Dutchman re-joined the track in P8. Ferrari had to react to Verstappen's strategy, so the Red Team called Sebastian in. The German switched to the white-walled hard tyres, re-joining the track ahead of Verstappen. But the flying Dutchman immediately smelled Sebastian's blood and was like a rattle snake, ready to attack any moment. Max left his braking unbelievably late, and dived alongside Sebastian! For a short moment it seemed, as if Max had been able to get past, but this time Sebastian controlled his nerves and kept his head cool. The irritated German managed to stay ahead of Max, just barely.
Towards the halfway point of the race, Bottas and Hamilton pitted on the sequential laps, also for a fresh set of hard Pirellis. Hamilton maintained his lead, with his teammate second. Leclerc lost the fourth place to Verstappen during his pit stop, as the Red Bull pilot benefited from the undercut. This meant, that Ferrari's team order proved extremely costly for Leclerc, who had lost two positions compared to the opening lap. Kimi dropped down to P11 during his pit stop, and both Haas drivers managed to get ahead of the Iceman. This wasn't a problem for Kimi, who made two more glorious overtakes!
On lap 30 Hamilton was leading the race, with a safe 3-second gap to his Finnish teammate. Sebastian in P3 proved absolutely toothless against the Silver Arrows, and he was already 11 seconds down on the race leader. Verstappen in P4 was no threat for Sebastian, and Leclerc's chances to challenge Verstappen didn't seem very realistic, either.
Verstappen opened also the second round of pit stops. The Dutchman pitted on lap 35, this time for a fresh set of medium Pirellis. Once again, the Red Team had to react, and Sebastian was called in right away. The German managed to stay ahead of Max, with a significant 8-second margin. A lap later Mercedes called both drivers in for a double pit stop, with Hamilton first. The Mercedes aces, too opted for the yellow-marked medium rubber. Hamilton re-joined the track in the lead, but teammate Bottas re-joined the track right behind Leclerc in P3. Valtteri's pace on the fresh tyres was much more competitive, but Leclerc had been told to slow the Finn down as much as he could. Bottas lost valuable time fighting behind the Monegasque. Finally Valtteri managed to squeeze past Leclerc on the long straight.
Leclerc was struggling on his out-worn hard tyres, and Sebastian swept past his teammate on lap 43. Charles pitted right away, also for a fresh set of medium rubber. He re-joined the track in P5. With ten laps to go, the gaps between the top five were quite solid, with no on-track battles going on. Kimi in P9, on the other hand, was right at Perez's tail, trying to find a chance for an overtaking move. At this point it seemed, as if P7 had been within Kimi's grasp, as Renault's Ricciardo in P7 was only a couple of seconds ahead of Perez.
With only three laps to go, the fastest lap time was under Sebastian's belt. However, Red Bull's Gasly pitted from P6 for a fresh set of red-marked soft compound, with the intention to set the fastest lap time at the end. And unfortunately the Frenchman deprived Sebastian of the fastest lap time, which is worth an extra point! Hamilton drove to the chequered flag as the race winner, with Bottas making it already the third 1-2 for Mercedes this season. This is quite a historic statistic detail, as three 1-2s for the same team at the beginning of the season was last achieved by Williams in 1992! The 1000th Grand Prix of the F1 history marked the 75th win for the reigning world champion. Sebastian completed the podium, with Verstappen fourth and Leclerc fifth. Gasly finished the race sixth, in spite of his second pit stop. Ricciardo finally managed to deliver at the wheel of Renault, bringing his car to the chequered flag in impressive P7. Perez managed to keep the Iceman behind him in the end, scoring three valuable points for Racing Point. Toro Rosso's Albon scored the last point, which was an excellent result from the Thai driver, as he had been forced to start to the race from the pit lane.
With this result, Hamilton snatched the championship lead from his teammate by six points. Verstappen has 39 points to Hamilton's 68. Sebastian moved fourth in the standings, with a 2-point gap to Verstappen and only one-point gap to his teammate. Mercedes are in a class of their own in the constructors' championship standings, as they have massive 130 points to the Red Team's 73. Behind Red Bull (3rd in the standings) the battle is extremely tight. Renault and Alfa Romeo Racing share the joint 4th place with 12 points.
Sebastian made it on the podium thanks to the team orders today. I'm sure this isn't the way he wants to succeed and beat his teammate. He can do better than that! The harmony has shaken within the team, which may have many consequences throughout the season. Personally, I don't think the team orders is the right solution at the beginning of the season. The drivers should be free to race, and whoever of the drivers has more points towards the end of the season, should then be promoted "the number one driver". You have to earn the status on track. I'm quite sure that deep down in his heart Sebastian isn't satisfied with today's result.
lauantai 13. huhtikuuta 2019
Chinese GP / Qualifying: "Bottas 2.0" led Mercedes into a front-row lock-out!
On Monday after the Bahrain GP my son was taken into the intensive care unit due to a severe infection, which had been caused by the cancer treatments. By this time his condition has turned quite critical, as the fungus in his blood has affected all vital organs. At the moment he is fighting for his life. I've been sitting here in my son's room every day, coming in the morning and staying up until the evening. Now my son is restfully asleep, so I am sitting beside his bed and writing about today's qualifying. I really need F1 action now to take my concentration off all the worries even for a short fleeting moment.
To the qualifying then. Toro Rosso rookie Albon was unable to take part in the qualifying, as the Thai had crashed out in the last free practice session. In terms of the pecking order, I actually didn't know what to expect. After the first runs the new "Bottas 2.0" topped the time sheets, with a significant 4-tenth gap to his teammate. Red Bull's Verstappen was third, Sebastian fourth and Renault's Hulkenberg fifth. Bahrain hero Leclerc didn't manage to put together a solid lap on his first attempt, and was only 11th. Kimi, too was in modest P15 after the first runs. The top five sat out the second runs. Leclerc managed to pull out an outstanding lap at the end of the session, and the Monegasque jumped second, only 0.054s shy of Mercedes ace Bottas. There were no surprise casualties in Q1 this time. Racing Point's Stroll was the first driver to be knocked out in the first session. Unfortunately Kimi's Italian teammate Giovinazzi was hit with technical issues, which ended the qualifying for him. As expected, the Williams duo of Russell and Kubica missed out on Q2 as well.
For the first time this season, Q2 saw different tyre strategies. Both Mercedes and Ferrari sent their drivers out on the medium tyres. Red Bull's Verstappen opted for a similar tyre choice. The Finnish Mercedes ace Bottas continued where he had left off in the first segment. Again, the Finn was clearly the fastest man on the track. The pace of the red-suited drivers was quite evenly matched, Sebastian and Charles being half-a-second off the flying Finn. Verstappen was fourth and Hamilton only fifth, the reigning world champion being whole 8 tenths down on his teammate. It was quite amazing, how competitive the medium tyre turned out. Hamilton took another set of medium Pirellis for his second run, as did Ferrari's Leclerc, whilst the other top drivers came out on the red-marked soft Pirellis. Unfortunately Kimi was struggling with his pace. After his first attempt the Iceman was 13th, 1.9s off his compatriot's benchmark. The second run saw the Iceman jump 10th, but only a short moment later Haas' Grosjean dropped the Finn out of Q3. Hamilton managed to put all sectors together on his final run, snatching the top spot from his teammate by 0.091s. The top drivers on the soft compound didn't improve their lap times. Toro Rosso's Kvyat was the first driver to be eliminated from the last segment. Out of Q3 were also Racing Point's Perez, Kimi, who had suffered from engine wows during his final run, and the McLaren duo of Sainz and Norris. Red Bull's Gasly made it among the top ten for the first time this season. This time the strongest teams of the midfield were Haas and Renault, with both cars of both teams proceeding into the final segment.
Everyone came out on the soft compound, as the battle for pole began. Bottas continued his impressive performance and took provisional pole by seven thousandths of a second to his teammate! Sebastian was third, but the German proved unable to match the Silver Arrows' pace, as the gap to Bottas was massive four tenths. Verstappen was fourth and Leclerc fifth after the first runs. Hamilton started his second flyer well, but proved unable to improve his lap time in the end. Teammate Bottas, on the other hand, even improved his time on his second attempt, and snatched his first pole of the season. Hamilton made it another front-row lock-out for the Silver Arrows. It was very tight between the Scuderia drivers, as the duo was separated by 17 thousandths of a second only, in favor of Sebastian. There was drama in terms of Haas and Red Bull drivers at the closing stages of Q3, as neither one of the drivers managed to start his time lap in time! The teams had sent their drivers out too late, which possibly cost Verstappen the fourth place. The Red Bull drivers locked down the third row, but the gap between the teammates was massive nine tenths in favor of the flying Dutchman. The Renault duo of Ricciardo and Hulkenberg locked down the fourth row, whilst the Haas drivers Magnussen and Grosjean had to settle for the fifth row.
The long runs of the three top teams were quite evenly matched on Friday, so I'm expecting to see an eventful race tomorrow. I'm sure the Mercedes teammates will have a fiery fight for the lead. The red-suited drivers will certainly put their spoons in the soup as well! And I'm sure Verstappen is extremely hungry to get on the podium. He won't miss out on ways, how to get past his rivals! Tyre management is definitely one of the keys to success in China. I´ll watch the race at home, before I head to the hospital again. I hope it will be full of entertainment and action! Sebastian on the top step of the podium would totally make my day!
To the qualifying then. Toro Rosso rookie Albon was unable to take part in the qualifying, as the Thai had crashed out in the last free practice session. In terms of the pecking order, I actually didn't know what to expect. After the first runs the new "Bottas 2.0" topped the time sheets, with a significant 4-tenth gap to his teammate. Red Bull's Verstappen was third, Sebastian fourth and Renault's Hulkenberg fifth. Bahrain hero Leclerc didn't manage to put together a solid lap on his first attempt, and was only 11th. Kimi, too was in modest P15 after the first runs. The top five sat out the second runs. Leclerc managed to pull out an outstanding lap at the end of the session, and the Monegasque jumped second, only 0.054s shy of Mercedes ace Bottas. There were no surprise casualties in Q1 this time. Racing Point's Stroll was the first driver to be knocked out in the first session. Unfortunately Kimi's Italian teammate Giovinazzi was hit with technical issues, which ended the qualifying for him. As expected, the Williams duo of Russell and Kubica missed out on Q2 as well.
For the first time this season, Q2 saw different tyre strategies. Both Mercedes and Ferrari sent their drivers out on the medium tyres. Red Bull's Verstappen opted for a similar tyre choice. The Finnish Mercedes ace Bottas continued where he had left off in the first segment. Again, the Finn was clearly the fastest man on the track. The pace of the red-suited drivers was quite evenly matched, Sebastian and Charles being half-a-second off the flying Finn. Verstappen was fourth and Hamilton only fifth, the reigning world champion being whole 8 tenths down on his teammate. It was quite amazing, how competitive the medium tyre turned out. Hamilton took another set of medium Pirellis for his second run, as did Ferrari's Leclerc, whilst the other top drivers came out on the red-marked soft Pirellis. Unfortunately Kimi was struggling with his pace. After his first attempt the Iceman was 13th, 1.9s off his compatriot's benchmark. The second run saw the Iceman jump 10th, but only a short moment later Haas' Grosjean dropped the Finn out of Q3. Hamilton managed to put all sectors together on his final run, snatching the top spot from his teammate by 0.091s. The top drivers on the soft compound didn't improve their lap times. Toro Rosso's Kvyat was the first driver to be eliminated from the last segment. Out of Q3 were also Racing Point's Perez, Kimi, who had suffered from engine wows during his final run, and the McLaren duo of Sainz and Norris. Red Bull's Gasly made it among the top ten for the first time this season. This time the strongest teams of the midfield were Haas and Renault, with both cars of both teams proceeding into the final segment.
Everyone came out on the soft compound, as the battle for pole began. Bottas continued his impressive performance and took provisional pole by seven thousandths of a second to his teammate! Sebastian was third, but the German proved unable to match the Silver Arrows' pace, as the gap to Bottas was massive four tenths. Verstappen was fourth and Leclerc fifth after the first runs. Hamilton started his second flyer well, but proved unable to improve his lap time in the end. Teammate Bottas, on the other hand, even improved his time on his second attempt, and snatched his first pole of the season. Hamilton made it another front-row lock-out for the Silver Arrows. It was very tight between the Scuderia drivers, as the duo was separated by 17 thousandths of a second only, in favor of Sebastian. There was drama in terms of Haas and Red Bull drivers at the closing stages of Q3, as neither one of the drivers managed to start his time lap in time! The teams had sent their drivers out too late, which possibly cost Verstappen the fourth place. The Red Bull drivers locked down the third row, but the gap between the teammates was massive nine tenths in favor of the flying Dutchman. The Renault duo of Ricciardo and Hulkenberg locked down the fourth row, whilst the Haas drivers Magnussen and Grosjean had to settle for the fifth row.
The long runs of the three top teams were quite evenly matched on Friday, so I'm expecting to see an eventful race tomorrow. I'm sure the Mercedes teammates will have a fiery fight for the lead. The red-suited drivers will certainly put their spoons in the soup as well! And I'm sure Verstappen is extremely hungry to get on the podium. He won't miss out on ways, how to get past his rivals! Tyre management is definitely one of the keys to success in China. I´ll watch the race at home, before I head to the hospital again. I hope it will be full of entertainment and action! Sebastian on the top step of the podium would totally make my day!
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