Tag: kimi raikkonen

F1 2018: German Gp Review – Hamilton Delivers Miraculous Win

How dramatically the Formula 1 pendulum can swing. For most of the German grand prix pole sitter Sebastian Vettel seemed well in control and seemingly heading towards a first win at the Hockenheimgring.

He led Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen cleanly from the start and was eking out the first stint on the ultrasoft compound. Meanwhile Hamilton, starting 14^thafter a mechanical failure in quali, was scything his way through the field on the soft compound tyre. Nevertheless, before too long he was a pitstop adrift of the race leader.

Raikkonen pitted first of the front-runners on lap fifteen. On the soft tyre the Finn delivered a string of fastest laps, which ultimately netted him the lead of the race after the pitstop phase. However, as Vettel’s tyres were twelve laps fresher the Ferrari pitwall instructed Raikkonen to let his German teammate through. Hamilton and his Mercedes team chose not to pit and completed a stunningly impressive stint of 42 laps on the soft tyre. It was unquestionably a master class in tyre management.

By now Daniel Ricciardo, starting from the back of the grid due to penalties had pulled out of the race after reporting that he was “losing power”. On lap 46 the rain came in and prompted several drivers, including Verstappen, into the pitlane for intermediate tyres. While the track remained slippery unfortunately for them the rain didn’t increase and they had to switch back to slicks.

Vettel’s race too would be dramatically affected in the slippery conditions. as the race plunged into chaos with a dozen laps to go. Caught out by conditions Vettel dumped his Ferrari into the barriers and out of the race. It brought out the safety car which Raikkonen and Bottas took advantage off by switching to fresh ultrasofts.

Hamilton too was initially called in only to be told to stay out. The Brit stayed out by controversially cutting the pit entry line. Post race a Mercedes team representative and Hamilton were summoned to the stewards for breaching Appendix L, Chapter IV Article 4 (d) of the FIA International Sporting Code. The regulation states that crossing the pit entry line is prohibited. While Raikkonen received a five second penalty for breaching the same rule in the 2016 Azerbaijan grand prix Hamilton was given only a reprimand. Remarkably, the stewards considered the fact that the “team candidly admitted the mistake and the fact that there was confusion” as a mitigating factor. Considering this and the inconsistency of the rule application teams will undoubtedly store this nugget for future reference.

Nonetheless, Hamilton’s drive was a stellar one. His control on the soft tyre and ability to master the slippery conditions makes this victory, arguably, one of the best of his career. The one two victory for Mercedes regains them the lead in the constructors standings by eight points while Hamilton returns to the top of the driver’s standings as well. Raikkonen’s third place, his fourth podium in four races, keeps his third in the standings and some would say still within striking distance should all thing be equal.

Elsewhere, Verstappen finished fourth after a gamble on the intermediate tyres didn’t pay off. Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg proved best of the rest in fifth with Romain Grosjean, Sergio Perez, Esteban Ocon, Marcus Ericsson, and Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley rounding out the top ten. Meanwhile, in addition to Vettel and Ricciardo both McLaren drivers and both the Williams’ failed to reach the chequered flag.

Hamilton now takes a 17-point lead to the Hungarian grand prix next weekend where Ferrari and especially Red Bull are expected to have the upper hand.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

July 23, 2018
F1 2018: German Gp Review – Ferrari Favourite?

Formula 1 returns to Germany and the Hockenheimring for the eleventh round of the absorbing 2018 season.

Throughout the decades Germany and Formula 1 have become synonymous, arguably, because of a man named Michael Schumacher. Schumi’s unprecedented brilliance not only made him a record breaking seven times world champion but also catapulted F1 to superstardom in Germany. What’s more, Schumacher’s relentless genius easily transcended the boundaries of his sport and seeped into the consciousness of sports fans around the globe. To this day hardly anyone would speak of Formula 1 with mentioning the unmatched genius of Schumacher. Keep fighting Michael.

These days there is another German at the forefront of the sport. Sebastian Vettel, aiming to win a fifth world title, currently leads the driver’s standings by eight points from Lewis Hamilton. And if he was determined to take victory at Silverstone one can only imagine that he’ll be even more resolute to win on home soil.

Ferrari’s stunning pace in Silverstone would’ve come as a bit of a surprise to Mercedes given the team’ long running domination of the British circuit. Mercedes have been an incredible team at the forefront of Formula 1 for the last three and a half years. But they’ve been placed under enormous pressure in 2018. Ferrari has pushed the German mark into uncharted territory and they haven’t responded in the most elegant of ways. Off the track technical director James Allison called Raikkonen’s clash of wheels with Hamilton in Silverstone “either incompetent or deliberate”. Peculiar statements like this only tell of one thing – they’re starting to feel the pressure.

Nevertheless, they are an incredibly resourceful and driven team who will bounce back sooner rather than later. Their first opportunity to do so comes this weekend around the 4.574 km Hockenheimring. The circuit’s layout is a blend of long straights and a final sector of medium-speed corners that should play to the strengths of a superior aero package and may bring Red Bull somewhat in to play.

The hairpin in the first sector of the lap is a key area for overtaking and demands good braking performance. Despite a relatively short lap drivers and engineers seek to strike a balance between top-speed and downforce. “You’d like to have the downforce for the stadium and to keep it steady on the brakes but equally you don’t want too much drag on the straights,” says Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo.

The final sector is not favourable for overtaking but the stadium section is a vital element to what makes the German GP unique. The decidedly muted sound of Formula 1 cars should make it possible to hear the cheering of the crowds, should a certain German driver be leading the race.

The driver’s will need to vigilant at the start of the race as the first corner tightens dramatically before opening up onto the straight. Although there is an expanse of run-off area a touching of wheels or front-wing is a high probability.

Though it may be the home race of Mercedes it’s likely to be a difficult task for Hamilton and co to beat Ferrari to the chequered flag. And if either Hamilton or Bottas best the Italian team it’ll be 67 laps you wouldn’t want to miss.

July 19, 2018
F1 2018: Spanish Gp Preview – Merc, Ferrari, Red Bull In The Mix

Formula heads to Spain’s circuit de Catalunya for the fifth round of the 2018 season.

Amid the enthralling on track action of the season there has been many, significant, developments off it. Firstly, it was recently announced that the aerodynamic rules for the 2019 will be modified with the aim of allowing cars to follow each more easily. This, the FIA hopes, will ultimately aid in overtaking. The revision include a wider, simplified front wing and brake duct with no aero winglets and a wider and deeper rear wing that will increase the effectiveness of DRS. These changes are a bit of a quick fix for the 2019 season while the FIA are planning a comprehensive overhaul of the sport’s technical regulations for 2021.

On the face of it anything that improves the ability to overtake is a positive. However, several teams voted against the 2019 changes and for good reason. The changes proposed by the FIA aren’t trivial and will likely force several teams into completely changing aerodynamic philosophy of their cars. And a re-designed aero package precipitates a re-design that will likely cost teams a lot of money.

Elsewhere, the local authorities of Miami will vote this week on a bid to bring F1 to Florida from 2019 onwards. The bid is being backed by Miami mayor Francis Suarez and with American-owned Liberty Media wanting to expand the sport’s presence in the US it seems like a no-brainer. The first images of a possible layout for the Miami street-track have been revealed and it features a, first-ever, bridge that runs across the water and back, an idea first touted by Bernie Ecclestone in the 1980s. With F1’s calendar already bulging with 21 races it remains to be seen how a Miami Gp will be slotted in.

Amidst it all there is a grand prix to be had this weekend around a circuit that teams and drivers know all to well. The circuit de Catalunya has long been the pre-season testing venue of choice meaning that teams arrive at the Southern-Spain track with a vast amount of data and know-how. Still the cars tested in late-February will be significantly different to what they arrive with this weekend. What’s more, it is the traditional trend that the Spanish grand prix weekend sees several teams bolt on upgrade packages to their respective cars.

While Lewis Hamilton may have taken victory in a chaotic Azerbaijan grand prix he has been decidedly lacking in his usually near-faultless form. Still, he comes into the weekend with a four-point lead over Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and with the expectation of being near the sharp-end of the grid.

However, what has been most thrilling about F1 in 2018 is that no grand prix weekend has been predictable. Whether it be because of safety-cars, pit strategy, or out-right pace the potential has been there for at least six drivers to stand on top of the podium.

Your money could be on Mercedes as they traditionally excel in Spain, or Ferrari who have seemingly built a car that can perform well at all circuits, including over one lap. Or you could put your money on Red Bull. After all it was here that Max Verstappen won his first race and who would bet against an ultra-confident Daniel Ricciardo? If nothing else this is what fans of the sport have wanted, and deserved, for the last several years – the beautiful unpredictability of Formula 1.

May 11, 2018
F1 2018: Azerbaijan Gp Review – Chaos & Collisions in Baku

The ingredients were there to make the Azerbaijan grand prix a cracker. And they all mixed together to produce as thrilling and unpredictable a race as any Hollywood director could dream up.

There wasn’t a long wait for the inevitable safety-car as Esteban Ocon collided with the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen after leaving the Finn no room into turn two. It meant that Raikkonen needed to stop for a new front-wing and the soft compound tyre, which dropped him to plumb last.

For most of the race pole starter Sebastian Vettel seemed to have it under control as he managed the pace ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas’ Mercedes. But the mid-race lull quickly gave way to a melee of crashes and safety cars. Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen who dramatically took each other out at the end of the start/finish strait induced the second appearance of the safety-car.

The two Red Bull drivers had been swopping paint and banging wheels throughout the race as the battled for supremacy. Ultimately the FIA race stewards adjudged that Verstappen had moved twice ahead of Ricciardo that prompted the crash. Both drivers were given a reprimand and Red Bull management have chalked it up to “two guys taking things into their own hands” and that blame would not be appropriated either way, at least that’s what team principal Christian Horner said in public.

It certainly hasn’t been the first time that Verstappen has made two moves under braking as Vettel, Raikkonen and others have criticized him for it in the past. His errors in judgment are beginning to pile up and well into his third season in the sport the excuse of ‘inexperience’ cannot be used any longer. While his aggressive approach to racing has been lauded and welcomed Verstappen runs the risk of developing a reputation that wont be easy to overcome.

The second safety-car was good news for Valtteri Bottas, who, because he hadn’t stopped yet, was in the lead of the race. His twelve-second window over Vettel was enough to get him in and out of the pitlane ahead of the Ferrari driver. The re-start prompted Vettel to attempt a dive up the inside of Bottas for the lead of the race but the Ferrari driver only succeeded in significantly flat-spotting his tyres. He dropped behind the Force India of Sergio Perez to finish fourth.

The joy was short lived for Bottas though as he was agonizingly forced out of the race with a right rear puncture. As the dust settled Lewis Hamilton emerged to win the 63^rd race of his career ahead of Kimi Raikkonen who was at one point plumb last. Sergio Perez kept his nose clean enough to earn the final step on the podium. By his own admission Hamilton considered ‘lady-luck’ the determining factor in his race win. Nevertheless, luck is part of the sport and Hamilton kept it together when everything was going off around him.

Renault’s Carlos Sainz secured a brilliant fifth place finish by the driver of the day was undoubtedly Sauber’s Charles Le Clerc with a stunning sixth place. Fernando Alonso recovered from a double-puncture to finish seventh ahead of Lance Stroll who scored Williams’ first points on the season in eighth. Stoffel Vandoorne took ninth for McLaren as Brendon Hartley scored the first point of his F1 career in tenth.

Hamilton’s victory takes him four-points clear at the top of the driver’s standings while Ferrari retake the lead in the constructor’s standings ahead of F1’s return to Europe for the Spanish grand prix in two weeks time.

April 30, 2018
2018 Azerbaijan GP: Post Race Press Conference

DRIVERS

1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

2 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)

3 – Sergio PÉREZ (Force India)

TRACK INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by David Coulthard)

We have our top three here. Lewis Hamilton just being weighed in. We just have to wait for the guys to get their helmets off. We’ve got a very happy Checo Pérez there and Kimi Räikkönen. Checo, you’re first with the helmet off: fantastic, absolutely brilliant, last time you were on the podium was here.

Sergio PÉREZ: Yeah, two years ago. I think today I did the best two laps of my whole career. The last two laps with Sebastian behind, with cold tyres, it was so difficult. I was on the supersoft tyre. I had to keep a very strong rhythm, trying to keep close to Räikkönen, to make sure that Sebastian didn’t get close enough, and in the end we did a real… I’m speechless.

Great stuff, great job indeed. We’ll come across to our race winner, Lewis, that was the perfect example of you never give up, running down with cold tyres at the re-start. Could you predict what was going to happen with Seb?

Lewis HAMILTON: Definitely not. Really quite an emotional race to be honest. Valtteri did such an exceptional job today and really deserved to have the win. Also, Sebastian did a great job. I think it was really, really fortunate today, so it feels a little bit odd to be up here, but I’ve got to take it. I didn’t give up, I keep pushing but definitely a very untidy race from me.

Well, it was absolutely a fantastic race to see, congratulations Lewis. We’ll jump over to Kimi Räikkönen. Tough start to that grand prix, you came together with Ocon. The Clerk of the Course thought it was a race incident. I guess you have a different point of view?

Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Yeah, well, obviously I was inside and I think he probably didn’t see me. It’s pretty difficult sometimes to see. So obviously he just turned in and I was there. It wasn’t ideal the start for me but I didn’t get worse off from that, so I was lucky in that way. A difficult race after that. I tried to come back and at certain moments I felt good but I struggled a bit with the tyres, to keep them warm enough. I just tried to pay the long game and to stay there, expecting issues. It paid off, but it wasn’t easy.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, many congratulations, win number 63. You’ve already said it wasn’t the easiest – but are you happier with the car this weekend than in China last time out?

LH: A little bit, yeah. In all honesty, I think I struggled throughout the weekend and I’m definitely struggling to extract, I think the car’s potential but also my potential so it’s definitely been a little difficult, particularly the last two races but also with the tyres in Bahrain. But I have to be happy with today. I have to be thankful and grateful for today because it is such a tricky race and you don’t know what’s going to happen: Safety Car comes out and you can lose out and lots of different things happening within this race but what’s important is just to keep your head down and keep going and live to fight another day. I came out in the lead and honestly I couldn’t believe that I was where I was, that I had a Ferrari behind me and I was just praying that I could keep it together, stay focussed and bring it home. So, we’ve definitely got a lot of work still to do, we still are behind, whilst we finished ahead today that was due to, as I said, lots of different circumstances getting in the way. But Kimi was nearly on pole yesterday, two-tenths ahead of Sebastian, their pure pace is a lot ahead of ours at the moment. Then, within the race, I’m sure Sebastian was managing but I’m sure their pace also in the race is a little bit up on ours. We definitely are there in the mix and we’ve not got a terrible car at all, by any means. We’ve just got to refine it a little bit and make it a little bit easier to drive. She definitely isn’t as easy to drive as it was last year. So yeah, that’s what we’re going to continue to work to.

Q: And a sense of relief to be back at the top of the Championship?

LH: Hmmm… I definitely don’t feel relieved at the moment. I have really mixed emotions. Obviously, I could hear constantly I was battling with my team-mate over time, over the pitstop window and ultimately Valtteri had done an exceptional job. Obviously, I did a good job in qualifying and put myself in a good position – but there were a lot of faults in the race, which is rare for me – but I struggled with the car, struggled with the tyres and that’s something I don’t take lightly, so I’ve definitely got to go away from here and work even harder to make sure that there’s not a repeat performance-wise of today for myself.

Q: Kimi, so close yesterday, so close today. Is there a sense of frustration building inside you now, of what do you have to do to win a grand prix?

KR: No, not really, yesterday I can only look in the mirror and the reason is easy to know. Yeah, it was frustrating, as I said earlier, I was taking it easy into the corner and I still managed to throw it away, so that is more painful that just if you happen to know that you have to try something to be fast enough – but that wasn’t the case. Yeah, pretty eventful race today. Got a destroyed front wing and tyre in the first few corners. I had a good feeling sometimes but was struggling to switch the tyres on. It was kind of on and off. I had a great many close moments. Even on the way to the grid I was pretty certain that it’s in the wall already but I managed to get it away from it. Too many close calls. The feeling was there but not consistently. I thought, OK, I just try to go as fast as I can and a little bit safer and the Red Bulls, looking at what they were doing earlier in the race it was pretty certain something will happen later on when they get close to each other. Everything changed after that and once put the other tyres on and again it felt OK and it all played into our hands. Very definitely a better day than yesterday but it still… second is not what you want but looking where we were earlier, you take it and we go from there. We know we have the speed. We just have to put things together, and I’m sure it will come.

Q: Checo, great to see you and Force India back on the podium. It’s been a dramatic turnaround by the team over the last month. How confident are you that you can stay where you are going forwards?

SP: Well, obviously, this result is a coincidence of so many things happening but it’s not a coincidence that we are always there to take anything that is offered to us. I think our battle is not here, to be honest, it’s the midfield and finally we got plenty of points today with this podium, that we can close up the gap to the cars ahead, to the Renaults. I think we were definitely the fourth-best team this weekend. In two weeks’ time, we have a very important challenge. Barcelona is where really the car is… you show all of your potential there. It will be very interesting to see where we are. I believe that we are making good progress. Up to now we only had one point as a team. It’s definitely a massive motivation for all the boys that are doing a fantastic job. They did an incredible job with the stops. With the strategy. Yeah, what else can I say? Amazing job.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Kimi, you’ve had a lot of bad luck in the races this season. You’ve had some big results go amiss through no fault of your own. Do you feel that you got a bit of that luck back today and how important is this for you to really kick on for the rest of the season?

KR: Well, I wouldn’t say that I have had a lot of luck over the years, but I don’t count on luck. You cannot count on that. I think you get what you deserve in a way and sometimes you are a bit luckier than other times but if I take over the years, I’m far from on the positive side yet. Maybe today certain things worked in our direction but then whatever happened in front of us are self-made issues in many ways. Stay out of trouble in this kind of race and definitely knowing what happened last year, it’s going to pay off. I’m more happy that I have the speed – I know that I have the speed. We just didn’t do it: the mistake yesterday and some issues earlier. That’s the main thing, that we have the speed. We just need to put it together and I’m sure that we can do even better.

Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Lewis, we didn’t see Valtteri hit anything; did you see him hit anything on the lap he had in front of you? Do you think there was still debris around the area where Romain had crashed before?

LH: For me it was impossible to see. I was obviously chasing Valtteri and it was so blurred, the vision is quite blurred at that high speed so all I could see was a few things fly away from his car and his speed reduced massively so I lifted and I didn’t really know what had happened, so I couldn’t tell you. And I couldn’t see any debris on the straight but the guys were telling me there was some debris there but there was also debris where Grosjean had crashed. It was all on the right side, before the left, fast lefthander so I can’t honestly say where it came from.

Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Kimi, Checo hit you on the first lap, then you had the incident with Ocon. Was your car damaged for the rest of the race? Did you feel there was something lacking there?

KR: Honestly, I don’t know. Obviously we destroyed the front wing and right tyre but then they changed the front wing so I didn’t check the car at all. Then also, I think on the first lap, after the restart, on the little kink, coming on the last part of the straight, I hit the inside wall at full speed so I’m pretty lucky that the front wheel didn’t go. I was expecting to go quite fast but I was lucky. It felt OK, the car, honestly. I struggled a bit with the tyres sometimes but apart from that I’m sure there wasn’t big damage.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis, you mentioned that you think Ferrari’s still a bit ahead of Mercedes at the moment. We saw exceptional pace from you in Australia, you’ve sort of struggled since then. So do you think that in order to get back on terms with them or get ahead it’s going to be upgrades that you require or just unlocking more from the package you have at the moment?

LH: I think the performance upgrade battle will be important, to see how that development goes between both teams, so that will definitely be important. I think more unlocking the potential of the car. Australia, we started on the right foot on the Friday and it progressed and got better and better. Since then, every weekend we’ve generally started a couple of steps – at least – behind the Ferraris and struggled to catch up. So whilst there has been a lot of work that has been done, we are still, today, performance-wise, we are still behind them. If you look at them, they had a little bit more downforce this weekend yet they were a little bit slower on the straights but quicker through all the corners. The middle sector was always three tenths up, three or four tenths up, which we just couldn’t catch up so their package really suited this track perfectly, I would say. Maybe ours did in Australia but I would imagine they just didn’t unlock their potential in that race, particularly, and since then have. But I don’t think we’re under any illusions that we have the fastest car or that we don’t have work to do. We know that. Everyone’s working as hard as they can but we’ve got to keep pushing, really got to keep pushing. I’ve got to figure out how to get on top of this car a little bit more. Australia, as I said, I was really comfortable with it and since then I’ve not been and I don’t really know why, so I’ve got to try and work on that.

Photo Credit: Sahara Force India Formula One Team

April 29, 2018
F1 2018: Azerbaijan Gp Review: Battle in Baku

The Formula 1 paddock is set for Baku this weekend as it jets into Azerbaijan for the fourth round of the 2018 season.

On the back of the first three races the teams will arrive at this weekend’s grand prix with a varying degree of mindsets. Ferrari should arrive in a fairly decent frame of mind but all is not up to par in the Italian team’s stable. The general assumption would be that Ferrari would have learned from several dubious strategy calls in 2017 but, again, the calls in China left a lot to be desired. It is an area that in 2017 cost them race wins and if they are to genuinely take the fight to Mercedes they cannot fall into the same hole this season.

Notorious for taking Ferrari to task the Italian media has delivered a scathing rebuke of the team’s treatment of Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn has started the 2018 season in fine form but was still, shamefully, used as a blocker for his teammate during the Chinese Gp. It’s a slippery slope Ferrari find themselves on. If they continue to sacrifice Raikkonen in aid of Sebastian Vettel they will, undoubtedly, forfeit any chance of winning the constructor’s title too. And if Ferrari is in the market for a replacement for their last world champion, say someone like a Daniel Ricciardo, it must be careful as to what image they are projecting to prospective drivers.

For Mercedes Baku has turned into a must-win grand prix. The German team finds itself in unprecedented territory having not yet won a race in the 2018 season. Regardless of the circumstances that led to Ferrari, and Red Bulls’, victories the fact remains that Mercedes finds itself needing to respond. More so, Lewis Hamilton has looked decidedly off colour even in comparison to teammate Valtteri Bottas. Nevertheless, the team seems confident that it can bounce back. “We just need to stick our heads together, stay calm, get the head down and come up with some solutions. Huge confidence in the team, they’ve proved that in the past,” says Toto Wolff.

The Baku circuit is one where Mercedes should do well. The circuit in Azerbaijan is the third longest on the calendar as comprises a rather unusual layout for a street circuit. The tight and twisting middle sector is bookended by long, power hungry straits, which combines in the first counter-clockwise lap of the year. While the track hasn’t shown too much tyre degradation in the two years that it’s been on the calendar it may prove a factor this weekend. In particular Ferrari has taken an aggressive approach by selecting ten sets each of the ultrasoft compound while Mercedes has gone for nine and Red Bull for eight set of the softest compound this weekend. “Baku is a bit strange,” says Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola. “Because it’s a street circuit, but with a very high speed straight. You have some sectors that are very, very fast, but also you have some parts of the track under the sun, and some parts in shadow”.

The long straits may put Red Bull into some difficulty with overall laptime when compared to Mercedes and Ferrari but they should in no way be discounted this weekend. The probability of a safety-car around the exceedingly tight mid-sector is high and Red Bull’s strategy calls have already netted them a race win. Max Verstappen’s performance this weekend will be worth noting as the young Dutchman has not only been shown up by his Aussie teammate, so far, in 2018 but also has to iron out some recklessness from his own driving.

The chances are good that this will be the weekend that Lewis Hamilton bounces back into form. The question is will Ferrari have the speed and more importantly the composure to stop him in his track, no pun intended.

April 25, 2018
F1 2018: Chinese Gp Review – Red Bull Win Shanghai Thriller

The 2018 Chinese grand prix may have taken some time to kick off. But once it came alive it produced one of the most thrilling and memorable races for quite some time.

Ferrari’s front-row lock out in Saturday qualifying, some half a second clear of the first Mercedes, set up what seemed like a foregone victory for the Italian team. However, even as dominant as Mercedes have been in the hybrid era Formula 1 remains one, if not the, most unpredictable sports in the world.

Nevertheless, the race got off without too much excitement. Sebastian Vettel cut off teammate Kimi Raikkonen to retain the lead while the Finn dropped behind the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen. The opening stint of the race was uneventful with Vettel heading to a third win in as many races. However, it was a dubious day for Ferrari as Mercedes, with Bottas, took over the lead with a sharper strategy call.

Ferrari weren’t done with the astonishing calls though as they decided to leave Kimi Raikkonen out on track to serve as a blocker for teammate Vettel in his quest to get back the lead of the race from Bottas. Ferrari’s call dropped Raikkonen to sixth after the pitstop. To treat their last world champion in such a manner was nothing less than shameful by Ferrari.

The race kicked off soon after as Pierre Gasly crashed into the side of his Toro Rosso teammate Brendon Hartley. Not only did Gasly incur a ten second penalty but the debris strewn across turn 14 prompted the deployment of the safety-car. While Bottas and Vettel missed a chance to dive into the pitlane for fresh tyres both Red Bulls of Verstappen and Ricciardo were called in and armed with new soft tyres.

Again, Ferrari was out-smarted on strategy as there was enough time to make the call to switch Raikkonen to new tyres. Mind you, Mercedes didn’t call in Hamilton either but did so as they though track position would be more important than fresh rubber.

The pace advantage of both Red Bulls was clear immediately in comparison to Raikkonen, Hamilton, Vettel, and Bottas. But Max Verstappen proved too impetuous in his overtaking moves as he ran off track when attempting to overtake Hamilton. He regrouped but got it wrong again when he hit Vettel at the turn 14 hairpin. The Dutchman was given a ten second penalty and will undoubtedly receive a talking to from his team.

He’ll be well advised to take note of his teammate Daniel Ricciardo who pulled off several stunning moves. First, he came from impossibly far back to take the place off Hamilton at the hairpin and followed it a lap later by easily picking off Vettel at the same spot. The best of the lot was the audacious on Bottas to take the lead of the race. Ricciardo scampered off into the distance to secure the sixth win of her career.

Valtteri Bottas held on to a solid second place by just six tenths of a second. Kimi Raikkonen secured third despite being hung out to dry by Ferrari. Though Verstappen recovered from his collision with Vettel his fourth on the road turned into fifth with a warranted ten-second penalty for causing a collision. Lewis Hamilton trundled home in a desolate fourth in what was an off-colour weekend for the reigning champion.

Nico Hulkenberg brought his Renault home in a solid sixth place ahead of Fernando Alonso’s McLaren in seventh. Sebastian Vettel limped home in eighth with Carlos Sainz and Kevin Magnussen rounded out the top ten.

Daniel Ricciardo’s brilliant win in China illustrated a Formula 1 team in perfect synergy. The team was pushed to the limits after needing to change the Australian’s engine on Saturday in time for qualifying. A job that normally takes three hours to complete was miraculously accomplished in two. And then there was the genius strategy calls and tremendous work in the pitlane to stop and service both cars back-to-back. To top it all off Ricciardo provided the icing on the cake with a sensational driving performance. Now that is Formula 1 at its best.

All images courtesy of Red Bull Racing & Pirelli Motorsport

April 16, 2018
2018 Chinese GP: Post Race Press Conference

DRIVERS

1 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

3 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Martin Brundle)

Daniel – what an absolute star. What a race! Your sixth victory, but is that the sweetest one?

Daniel RICCIARDO: I don’t know what it is, I don’t seem to win boring races, they’re all pretty fun. That was unexpected. Put ourselves 24 hours ago and I thought we’d maybe be starting at the back of the grid. Firstly, thanks to the boys yesterday. I thanked them after qualifying but today is the real reward for that work. So thank you to everyone at Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, the mechanics worked their butts off, so…

And the team had their brain in gear didn’t they, under the safety car, getting you in the pit lane. Double stacked the car twice, so the pit crew were on it as well?

DR: It was hectic. I heard ‘safety car’ in Turn 14, and they said ‘we’re going to double stop, come, come, in the box’. It happened very quickly but very decisive moves, winning moves also from the team, so thanks a lot. Yeah, fat lip and all I got the win.

Just take us through one of the great overtakes – maybe on Lewis? That came out of nowhere down to the Turn 14 hairpin.

DR: Yeah, sometimes you’ve just got to lick the stamp and send it. So, there we go. I enjoyed it very much.

You still made the apex somehow, extraordinary?

DR: Yeah, obviously we had the soft tyre so I knew I could get a little bit more out of the braking than them. A lot of the time you get one chance to try so I made the most of every opportunity.

You were a little closer to Valtteri when you passed him than you are now, but Valtteri, kind of bittersweet. Your 100^th start but the safety car didn’t play into your hands and left you on some slightly older tyres and struggling a little bit.

Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, you know, the race was going pretty well for us and we were looking strong all the way, until the guys, during the safety car, stopped and we were in trouble then with Daniel and nearly with Kimi in the end. It is disappointing. We were giving everything we had and it kind of felt like we deserved victory… but not today.

Without the safety car, do you think you had enough grip and pace to keep Sebastian behind you and take victory?

VB: It felt like everything was under control so far. I had no major drop-off in the end, so I think we could have done it, but this is racing, these things happen.

Kimi, wow, it looked like you were a bit out of position. It looked like you were struggling a bit. They kept you out a long time before the pit stop. Then the safety car played into your hands and you had great speed and you got yourself back onto the podium.

Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Yeah, I think we made a good start and then got, unfortunately, blocked a bit and passed in the first corners. I struggled a little bit following people in the beginning. On my own I wasn’t too bad, but far from ideal at the start of the race and then obviously we stayed very long out. A little bit of luck with the safety car. I had good speed on the mediums but in the end we would have needed the soft tyres to really go for it. But I think I was kind of OK in the end, but once I got close I had much more speed than Valtteri but once you get close it’s so difficult to follow people, to get a good run you need much better tyres to get that proper run and you can kind of offset yourself. But I’ll take what I got, because at one point it didn’t look good at all.

Daniel, I just want to go through the other overtake, when you passed Valtteri into Turn 6, because that looked a little bit touch and go.

DR: It was close. I think it was hard but fair. I saw him defend, so I wanted to go shallower, but then he came a bit more… I thought about pulling out. No, I’m just kidding! I knew there would always be enough room and the tyres had pretty good grip, so worst case I went wide and I’d have another crack somewhere else.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Daniel, many congratulations. In winter testing, if someone had said to you “Red Bull will win a race this year before Mercedes,” what would have been your reaction?

DR: Good job. Yeah, pretty cool. Holy Testicle Tuesday! I don’t know. I’m sitting here, reciting everything in my head what just happened. Yeah, awesome. Even after yesterday. I’ve only got six, it’s not a whole lot but the wins seem to come under always some circumstances. Baku, and this one now where we really thought we were going to start the race at the back. We didn’t think we were going to get out in qualifying and, just over 24 hours later, now to be here, it’s… this sport’s crazy. A week ago I was with my head down after two laps on Sunday. Yeah, frustrated at the sport, frustrated at all the variables that are involved in the sport. Sometimes I question why I chose this sport because there’s so many other things out of your control and it does get you down a lot – but then when you have a day like this it’s worth fifty of those bad ones.

Q: Valtteri, coming on to you. A lot was made yesterday after qualifying about the team having set the cars up for the warmer temperatures that we had today in the grand prix. How was the balance of the car?

VB: I think the balance was OK. Like actually it felt OK yesterday, we were just not quite quick enough with the ultrasoft, so yeah, today we only used soft and medium and I think on the soft it was next to nothing, the difference to Ferrari. We were as competitive as them. I think with the medium it was pretty much the same case. So, for sure, starting the race from the second row makes it more difficult. It’s a shame what happened in the end because we really took the opportunities in the beginning of the race start, during the pitstop. After the pitstop everything was going fine. And then with the Safety Car we just got a little bit unlucky – but that happens sometimes. It’s difficult to accept that quickly, after the race – but that’s F1.

Q: Talk us through the undercut. Were you surprised to come out ahead of Vettel?

VB: No. We knew that it is possible with this kind of gap, if you get everything perfect, coming in, in the box, into the pitlane and all that. If you can switch on the tyres quickly, it’s possible. That’s why we stopped at this point. It was perfect timing from the team. I think it felt it was my quickest stop I’ve had with the team. So, everything just went really well. Good out-lap. So, we knew it was possible.

Q: Kimi, can we get your thoughts on the pecking order now. Because Ferrari were so quick in qualifying yesterday, yet here you are in third place.

KR: It’s very hard to say. I think if you ask anybody, it’s a bit tricky to give you an answer. I think today a lot of the end results depended on whether you had better tyres than others, when you could offset yourself to the others. Obviously, it’s part of the game. A big part of the game. And here it made a big difference. And the safety car playing in there. So, like pure speed, with everybody on the same tyres… it’s difficult, very difficult to say in a race. I think it’s nice like that, for everybody to watch, because nobody really knows, everybody would love to know, nobody really has because it changes from race to race. And such a small difference makes a big difference in the end results. I think you just have to wait and see. I think it might change from race to race and who runs what tyres.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Daniel, you’ve pulled off a lot of spectacular overtakes already in your Formula One career, not just to win races. Where does the overtake on Valtteri today rank and can you just talk us through what was going on in the car and going on in your head at the beginning of that process, through the overtake and afterwards?

DR: Yeah. Opportunity be knocking! That’s what I would say. I could tell that obviously we had the advantage coming in at the safety car and having those softs. Yeah, I sensed the opportunity. Initially it was ‘OK, maybe now we can fight for the podium’ and at the rate that we were going through the field, and I could feel the tyres were holding on well, then it was obviously fully set on the win. Yeah, I don’t know. Obviously I had pace over all the guys that I got ahead of but you still don’t want to sit behind for too long. I saw Valtteri defend but I was kind of committed already from turn three that I was going to try. It was cool, it was close but I would say close but fair and it’s cool when you go wheel-to-wheel and I think it’s fun for drivers and it’s good TV so I enjoyed it. It makes it a bit sweeter than just maybe cruising past on the straight so that was a lot of fun.

Q: And Valtteri can we just have your take on that overtaking manoeuvre?

VB: Well, yeah. I was defending, obviously I saw him very close in turns one, two, three. He got a decent exit as well. He was closing lap after lap with pretty big gains. Yeah, from my side there was not much to do. I tried to defend but ultimately, with the better tyres, he could really brake quite a lot later and got inside. Like he said, it was all fair and like this. I think it was just a matter of time, with the pace he was going.

Q: (Keren Wang – Top Driver) Daniel, why didn’t you share your shoey with Valtteri and Kimi?

DR: To be honest, actually I don’t know if I’ve ever offered it to Kimi but to be honest I sprayed most of the champagne so I didn’t have that much more and obviously I saw my number one mechanic Genty (Chris Gent) and he was the priority at the time. There wasn’t enough to go round today unfortunately. Hopefully there’s plenty more opportunities.

Q: Kimi, would you accept a shoey?

KR: Lucky for us…

DR: Maybe next time. It’s a privilege.

Q: (Keren Wang – Top Driver) Daniel, you kept your cool throughout the race. What was in your mind when you saw that Max had made a mistake and you overtook him?

DR: I could see it coming a few corners before. Obviously I saw he was close to Lewis out of ‘three’. I wasn’t close enough to be involved at that moment so yeah, I was just watching, I guess and obviously if there is some contact, I’ve got to then position myself and try and be prepared. Yeah, then I saw he was trying on the outside of ‘seven’ and I could see them both drift wide and I could see that one car was probably not going to make it, so the difficult thing was then when Max went off track I wasn’t sure if he was going to slide back across, hold the line, so that was quite tricky initially, but then I could see he was coming on with quite a bit of speed so then it was quite easy in my mind to cut across the inside to let him go. But yeah, even those things, they happen so fast and you’re still in the heat of the battle so it’s quite hard to always pick the right move. Fortunately I didn’t really lose any time with that and yeah, it was pretty close, so I don’t know what the viewers thought but it seemed like it was a pretty close battle.

April 15, 2018
2018 Chinese GP: Post Qualifying Press Conference

DRIVERS

1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

2 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)

3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

TRACK INTERVIEWS

(conducted by Davide Valsecchi)

Q: Sebastian, what a lap, it was just amazing. And then the last sector, how good it was, it was something unbelievable.

Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I was happy with the whole lap, not just the last sector. The car was really amazing. It just kept getting better, so really happy. I knew that on the first lap I had some mistakes. I lost the rear at Turn 3 at the exit of the low-speed, and then 6 again, so I was a bit beaten up, but then I knew that if I got a tidy lap and I have a little bit of margin then I could push.

Q: Do you ever check the reaction of the fans? They love it!

SV: Yeah, really good. Also in the hairpin, in Turn 14, just under braking, outside, I see the people going crazy. It’s really nice.

Q: Kimi, you were on pole just until the last sector of Sebastian Vettel. You have to be proud of your quali? I know it must be disappointing but your drive was excellent today.

Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: It was OK, but not good enough. It’s not exactly what I wanted, so, yeah, we go tomorrow and see what we can do.

Q: About tomorrow: what do you think you can do?

KR: Well, we try to improve. Obviously it’s going to be a long race. We need to stay out of issues and go from there and see what it brings.

Q: Valtteri, how was your quali? It seemed that you were struggling a bit but then just at the end you could improve. What do you think, how was your Mercedes today?

Valtteri BOTTAS: I think for us it was quite straightforward honestly, as a qualifying, run by run understanding the tyres, getting them to work better. But we never could achieve similar grip levels to Ferrari today.

Q: Let me check it out, tomorrow, first row, Turn 1, how is it going to be?

SV: I don’t know. We find out tomorrow. Looks like on Kimi’s side there’s more rubber, so I need a good start!

PRESS CONFERENCE

Sebastian, just talk us through that session and how you built up to that incredible time of 1:31.095?

SV: Yeah, it was indeed a crazy session – the car was unbelievable and it just got better. I think right from the first lap in the first of part of qualifying, in Q1, I was really happy and in the end we didn’t have to do much on the car. I didn’t have to fight so much finding the last fine tunings. I was very happy with the settings I had from the beginning. Usually you change quite a lot, you change your mind… it was tricky, because also the wind was changing, sometimes more, sometimes less, and a bit gusty as well. Trying to look around the lap to see where the flags are, trying to get a reference. The last lap in Q3 I knew I could step it up. I knew I had a bit more in me, because on the first run I had two moments, out of Turn 3, accelerating I was probably a bit keen. The same out of Turn 6, I lost the rear twice, so I lost a bit of momentum in those places. So I knew that I had a little bit more and obviously in the last lap I got it all together and very happy that when I crossed the line I was looking up to see the screen and I saw something green, which is usually good, and little bit of purple. Really pleased; it was a tight session but I think again a great result for the team.

Your car seems to be getting stronger by the race. Are you surprised by the gap to Mercedes this weekend?

SV: Yes, we are. I think the first three races have been a bit different now. The tracks are quite different to each other and to have that much of a gap is a bit of a surprise. But I think it’s also a track where you just need to get in and find that sweet spot and if you are a little bit out then easily you drop a little bit of time, so I wouldn’t be surprised tomorrow if that gap disappears and it will be a very tight race. Obviously, I wouldn’t mind if it stays there but I think it will be a tight race amongst the top three teams, and a long, tough race, but obviously it’s good to start from the front.

Q: Kimi, coming on to you, you’ve been hooked up all weekend. Very, very close to your team-mate. Just talk us through the session from your point of view.

KR: I think it was pretty straightforward. Not much really happened. Obviously after the morning it was a bit unknown where I was going to be with the wind and everything. I was pretty OK. Not much to say that was wrong. For sure there are things that we can improve always – but that’s a never-ending story. It was close. How close I don’t even know but close enough to make a difference, a few corners here and there. So, yeah, not ideal but tomorrow is another day. We’ll see what happens.

Q: You say tomorrow’s the day. You’re going to be starting the race on the soft tyre, as are the top four drivers. Was that a straightforward decision – or were you tempted to start on the ultrasoft?

KR: It was quite an easy decision, at least in the minds. If you cannot be fast enough… that we only find out in qualifying always but I think it was quite straightforward decision. We’ll see how it plays out tomorrow. It’s a bit unknown tomorrow.

Q: Valtteri, just talking about that gap to Ferrari. Sebastian has already told us that he’s surprised at the size of the gap. Are you?

VB: Yeah, we are. We thought coming into today that we would be fighting for the pole position but it was definitely out of reach today, there was nothing in the lap that we could have gained that much. I think there’s a little bit in terms of getting the tyres absolutely perfect for the lap – but it’s not half a second. You could feel it if it would be that big. So, I think they have a really strong car. We can see it, especially in long corners, Turn One-Two, they make some good gains to us and obviously not without any speed difference on the straights, they can keep the gains they make in the corners – so we definitely have work to do but yeah, tomorrow is a different day. Again, a long race ahead and like we saw last weekend it probably will be close. Hopefully we can make it up tomorrow what we lost today.

Q: Can we elaborate a bit more about tomorrow. Do you think you’re going to have a more competitive race car than you had today?

VB: hmmm… it’s difficult to say. We expected to go into today, that we would be fighting for the pole. From our numbers, it’s going to be very close between us and Ferrari – but as they were quicker today, we don’t know. But we will for sure try with everything we can. Obviously, we start on similar tyres so there’s not going to be massive differences with the strategies but yeah, we need to try and take the opportunities.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Question for Kimi. Kimi, the first two sectors of your final lap were the fastest in the session so far, what happened in the final sector?

KR: Nothing really. I lost some time but… I don’t know why. It wasn’t like I did some big mistake but yeah, need to see, I don’t know right now.

Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Question for the two Ferrari drivers. It’s always a balance between race pace and qualifying pace. Now, as you’ve seen the gap to the Mercedes, do you feel you’ve sacrificed race pace a bit too much for qualifying pace?

SV: No. No, I think we try to look at both, obviously, and tomorrow the forecast is quite different so I think we kept that in mind. Obviously we see how it works tomorrow but the answer is still no.

Kimi, anything to add?

KR: I honestly don’t know how you could sacrifice something today to be better tomorrow. We have nothing that you could change like that. I never… as long as I remember, there has never been a case like that. You have somehow different setups for two days. It’s what you have. If it’s fast in qualifying it’s fast in the race, if it works.

Q: (Yiyi Duan – Titan Sport) Kimi, very good qualifying lap but still not good enough so what details do you think can be improved if you want to overtake your teammate, if it’s possible, in tomorrow’s race?

KR: Well, obviously first of all we need to make sure that we run a troublefree race. Obviously that’s the first point and then we have to see how it pans out, obviously, so it’s a long race. We know what we’re going to do between ourselves so there’s nothing… I think the start will be a big part of it and who knows? We will see how it pans out and what it brings but we need to make the best out of it.

Q: (Keren Wang – Top Driver) Valtteri, you mentioned that you were struggling to find the grip level that you had yesterday. Was it because of the low temperature, does that mean that your car is less competitive under low temperature conditions?

VB: Well, I think the grip levels came up, for sure, from yesterday so in a way it was better but I think I said, I just struggled to find as much grip as Kimi and Seb. I said maybe some part of it can be from the tyres but I think some of it must come from the car. I don’t know if yesterday… it’s (tomorrow) going to be quite different to today, definitely warmer, a few degrees warmer with the air and definitely on the track; with the sun it’s a question mark. But we don’t think we are less competitive on a cold track. I thought we struggled a bit in Bahrain with the heat! For sure, we always need to understand everything better but for sure we need to make the car better as well.

Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Seb, you had some problems yesterday; I don’t think the balance was alright and on the long run the lap times dropped a bit. Why did it go so much better today? Did you change something dramatic in the car or what happened?

SV: We made some small changes but I think it was already pretty OK yesterday afternoon. I think in the long run I was catching traffic and (on) the other one it started to rain so I think for everyone it was a bit compromised, the amount of laps that you got. Yeah, I think overall I was happier today. Obviously it helps a little bit to focus on one lap as well, if you get the P3 session right you get the better feeling for the car so between practice and qualifying we didn’t do hardly anything. I think the overnight changes that we did, they were working and they made the car a little bit better. I was a little bit happier with the front end overall. I hope we can carry that momentum and feeling, obviously, into the race tomorrow.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Valtteri, are we seeing a recurrence of Mercedes’s struggles on the softest compound Pirellis from last year? And in those scenarios why do you think you are able to get more out of the car than Lewis?

VB: I think we saw in the races before that in general we’ve been a bit better with the harder compounds. That is something that we’re still working on, to get more out of the softer compounds and I think Ferrari is doing something better on that so yes, for that. I think the gap between me and Lewis was really small, it’s been quite small all weekend so it’s about fine details. I haven’t seen the lap so it’s difficult to say, really, why I was ahead but yeah, it’s been close between us all season so far so that’s how it is.

Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari Formula One

April 14, 2018
F1 2018: Bahrain Gp Review – Vettel Holds Nerve for 49th Career Win

It may only be the second round of the 2018 season but the Bahrain grand prix delivered a race to be remembered. Packed with thrilling overtakes, drama in the pits, and intense on-track action it’s one to remember.

Ferrari’s front row lock out on Saturday meant Sebastian Vettel was able to lead cleanly off the line while Valtteri Bottas, on the clean side of the grid, got the better of Kimi Raikkonen into turn one. Further down the field Hamilton, starting ninth due to a gearbox penalty, tangled slightly with Max Verstappen. The Red Bull driver had started fifteenth after a crash in the first part of qualifying a day earlier. While Hamilton continued unscathed Verstappen suffered what initially looked only like a left-rear puncture. However, he retired soon after with damage to the diff. As if to add insult to injury Daniel Ricciardo, running a solid fourth, pulled over moments later with a suspected electrical issue prompting the deployment of the virtual safety car.

As racing resumed Vettel was leading from Bottas and Raikkonen with 5^th place starter Pierre Gasly and Kevin Magnussen running fourth and fifth respectively. In what was by far the boldest and most spectacular overtake of the day Hamilton passed all three of Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg simultaneously into turn one. The reigning champion then made short work of Gasly for fourth, fourteen seconds adrift of the race lead.

The first round of pits stops saw Ferrari and Mercedes opt for different strategies as Vettel and Raikkonen fit the soft tyre that which seemed to indicate a two-stop strategy. Mercedes, in contrast, fitted the medium tyre and were set to run to the chequered flag. On lap 36 Raikkonen dived back into the pitlane for his second stop. Disaster struck as the Finn’s car was released without the left-rear being changed, hitting a mechanic in the process. Raikkonen was immediately told to stop his car in the pitlane due to an unsafe release. The Ferrari mechanic suffered a broken leg and the team were slapped with a, roughly, R735 000 fine (€50 000).

The system used to release cars, a set of lights that turn from red to green, is clearly flawed. The fact that the pitcrew are unable to stop a car from being released if it is not in the correct condition is a serious issue that has now resulted in injury. Following on from Haas’ double retirement in Australia, in similar circumstances, to Ferrari’s pitlane incident this weekend it is clear that the FIA has to conduct a thorough investigation as to the best, and safest, procedure to use during pitstops.

Whether it was planned or not Ferrari switched Vettel onto an ambitious one-stop strategy that required him to run the soft tyre for a 36-lap stint. By now Vettel had built a gap of seven odd seconds over Bottas with Hamilton a further nine seconds adrift. It became clear to Mercedes that Vettel would be going to the end and both Mercedes drivers were instructed to close down the race leader.

Bottas, on much better tyres, was able to cut the deficit by one second a lap and soon found himself on the gearbox of the Ferrari. By this stage Vettel’s tyres were falling off the performance cliff and he was sure that it would be a matter of time before the Merc came flying by. “I came on the radio with 10 laps to go and said I had everything under control – and that was a lie,” said Vettel. “There was nothing under control. When they told me the pace of Valtteri at that time, I said no way I can do that. But Bottas lacked the crucial bit of tenacity and resolve to pass the Ferrari into turn one.

Hamilton crossed the line in third while Toro Rosso Honda launched into euphoric celebrations as Gasly finished a brilliant fourth. Kevin Magnussen scored Haas F1’s first points of the season in fifth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso in sixth and seventh. Marcus Ericcson delivered an excellent drive for Sauber in ninth while Esteban Ocon wrapped up tenth for Force India.

Vettel took the 49^th win of his career in his 200^th race start and a 17-point lead in the driver’s standings over Hamilton. Formula 1 heads to China this weekend for the third round of the season.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

April 10, 2018