It wasn’t the easy win Red Bull would have hoped for!
One thing that is certain, is that whether you like the Sprint format or not, it somehow gives us some chaotic and bonkers racing on the Sunday. I can’t wait to see what Brazil could give us for their Sprint weekend!
Incredibly, the biggest moment of the race was probably not the eventual winners, but instead the traditional Sprint weekend crash between Lewis and Max! I hope this one won’t be as controversial as at Silverstone, simply because both cars were out, and it was more of a racing incident in my view. Before I delve further into my thoughts on it, we have to be thankful for the halo, as it almost certainly saved Hamilton’s life, in what was already quite a scary crash.
As mentioned, I see it as a racing incident, however I wouldn’t call it a stupid decision to penalise Max, as he was being rather bold in his move, and it would have been difficult to get through there cleanly. The reason I think there should have been no penalty, is that Lewis was rather indecisive in his defence, he didn’t completely block off the move from Max, like what happened on Lap 1 when the roles were reversed. This meant that there was a clear opening for Max to try and fit into, which then closed up at the apex of Turn 2, causing the incident.
Do I think that the circumstances leading up to the crash may have clouded Max’s judgement? Probably, simply because he is human, and when things go against you, it can cause you to drive differently. So, without that, he may have been more cautious. It was also good to see Red Bull and Max being more sensible in their reaction to this incident compared to Silverstone, possibly because they knew they had a bigger part to play in this one.
What a day for McLaren, and for Ricciardo! To be honest, I don’t think the crash for the title leaders changed the outcome of the race much! They were both unable to pass the McLarens in the first stint, so that could have continued for the rest of the race! It was the start and 1st lap that was crucial, as Ricciardo got past Verstappen, and could control the race from there. Their pace was not better than Mercedes and Red Bull, but it was still better than we have seen all year so far. The strategy was also on point, as they were able to react to Red Bull wanting to pit Max, to make sure they didn’t get the undercut. Which meant that even if Red Bull had nailed the stop, they would probably have come out behind Daniel.
No one should be disappointed with the result, as everyone wanted to see Ricciardo back to winning ways, and see him return to his old self! He is such a character in the paddock, as well as being an absolutely talented driver, and we all missed the shoey! With momentum on his side, it could be a great end to the year for the team! You do have to feel for Norris a bit, as he may have been faster in the race, and given he has carried the team for most of the year, he may have felt he deserved to win first. Nevertheless, he drove perfectly too, and was rightfully pleased with how it all turned out!
What is it with drivers being fired from teams, and then performing really well! First, we see Giovinazzi finding pace in the Alfa out of nowhere, and now Bottas has had one of his best weekends ever in the sport! It may just be that the pressure is off now, and so Valtteri can just relax and drive as he wants to. We just haven’t seen him pass cars that well whilst at Mercedes before yesterday. Perez too did as much as he could really, to finish on the road behind the McLaren’s. He should have given the place back to Leclerc, although if the FIA didn’t tell them to give it back, it is a bit of a harsh penalty!
Given their power deficits, 4th and 6th is pretty good going for the home team of Ferrari. Yes, luck played its part, but they were able to stay with the front runners in the 2nd stint. Leclerc defending from Norris was a bit iffy, as he was just in the middle of the road and forced Lando onto the grass. Looking ahead, the battle isn’t over with McLaren, despite them scoring big today!
Stroll and Alonso fought their way up to finish 6th and 7th respectively, with Stroll being rather aggressive with his teammate in the first few laps. Given that the low rake concept really helped Mercedes with weekend, we may have expected more from Aston Martin, who also have their engine too. That incident with Stroll really ruined Vettel’s race, as he couldn’t make up positions from there.
Williams really is making their way into the midfield fight now, as Russell bags some more points, and both cars were fighting the Alpine’s and Aston Martin’s all day. Granted their pace may have been slightly slower, and they were holding some of them up, but the improvements are massive at the moment. Ocon made a silly mistake whilst battling with Vettel, in pushing him off the track, which cost him any chance of points, as he got a penalty for it.
Giovinazzi lost any hope of points on Lap 1, when he simply drove across the front of Sainz exiting the 2nd chicane. Carlos had the right to pull alongside him, as he had the momentum, and Antonio just didn’t see him. Kubica did well again, given he is just filling in for Kimi. The Haas’ crashed into each other again, as Mazepin spun Schumacher, which I am sure will only help inter team relations! It was worse for AlphaTauri, as Tsunoda couldn’t start the race, due to a technical issue, whilst the team couldn’t set the suspension up correctly for Gasly after his crash in the Sprint!
Finally, I have talked about their crash, but up until then, the race was going very differently for the 2 title contenders. In my opinion, Max didn’t lose the race in the crash, or the pit stop, it was the race start instead, as he just didn’t have the straight line speed to get past the McLaren’s after that. They tried to do the undercut, but McLaren were wise to it, and their mistake in the pits was human error, to do with the new FIA regulations around it. Hamilton on the other hand, by starting on the hard’s, had set himself up very well for the 2nd half of the race. He was able to eventually pass Norris, and with a clean pit stop, could have beat out Lando, and pressured those in front!
On a track where Mercedes looked so strong, it may be a net win for Max to lose nothing in the championship to him, but it could have been so better for Red Bull if Sunday had gone smoothly! With his penalty, expect Max to take his engine penalties too at Russia, where Mercedes is strong too, which will be prime opportunity for Hamilton to close the lead and possibly overtake Max again for the title lead!
-M
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