Abu Dhabi: post-race analysis
A straightforward case
of poor judgement on my part with the bet. Unfortunate, but if I had
perfect judgement this betting business would be a lot easier.
The start of the race
was great. Hamilton was a bit slow and it seemed either Perez or
Raikkonen might pass him. However the Ferrari and Mercedes closed off
Perez’s path, which meant he had to back out, and Hamilton fended
off the Finn’s advances.
Hulkenberg passed
Bottas and Ricciardo, Sainz pulled off multiple passes and Vettel
(admittedly with a much faster car than those around him) roared up
the field.
It was a bad first lap
for Alonso, and worse for Maldonado. The Venezuelan was put out of
the race by the Spaniard, who had himself been forced to collide with
the Lotus after he was tagged by a Sauber. Alonso was compelled to
take an early pit stop, then insult was added to injury when the
stewards, led this week by Stevie Wonder, blamed him for it and gave
him a penalty.
For a short time the
top four were pretty close, but then gaps started opening and it was
clear Rosberg had the measure of Hamilton, Mercedes was too strong
for Ferrari, and Force India couldn’t quite keep up with the
prancing horse.
Vettel, starting
(unusually) on the soft tyre, had a longer first stint than most
chaps and, due to differing strategy, obligingly let his team mate
past twice.
Pit stop woe ruined
Bottas’ race. He was released dangerously early by his crew,
smashed immediately into the back of a McLaren that was diving into
the pits ahead of him (and therefore had clear right of way), broke
his front wing, had to complete a slow lap with half a front wing to
get a new one with an extra stop and then got a five second penalty.
Towards the end of the middle stint the gap
between Rosberg and Hamilton, which had been around 8s, reduced
sharply as Hamilton upped his pace (it appears his German friend was
suffering tyre degradation). Rosberg pitted with a lead of about
1.5s. And the team kept Hamilton out for about 10 more laps. Why?
Well, it could be that Mercedes had a stupid day. Or it could be they
were manufacturing a soft 1-2 result, because Hamilton had been
steadily whittling away Rosberg’s lead up to that point. On fresh
tyres, the German extended his lead, and Hamilton ended up 8s behind
him at the flag.
Cock-up or conspiracy,
I don’t think it was driver favouritism so much as the management
wanting a good result, and not wanting to risk any actual racing
getting in the way of it.
Raikkonen was a clear,
slightly lonely, 3rd with his team mate next but a long
way back. Perez got a good 5th for Force India, who have
had a very solid season. Ricciardo claimed 6th, with
Hulkenberg 7th (so strong double points for the team).
Massa’s 8th was a bit lacklustre given Williams were so
strong here last year.
Grosjean said au revoir
to Lotus with a brace of points and Kvyat, despite having dodgy
brakes, just about clung onto 10th.
Although Button was
only 12th, the race had just a single retirement and he
was able to compete and race against other cars instead of just
getting passed. Not great, but it seems an improvement for McLaren.
On that note, post-race
Christian Horner said Red Bull had an engine deal for next year and
that Ron Dennis wouldn’t be happy. Horner may be being a bit silly,
but if the team does have a Honda engine that would presumably only
be with McLaren’s agreement, as the latter team reportedly has a
veto on such an arrangement.
We shall see.
As we shall see whether
Aston Martin take over Force India, Renault take over Lotus, who the
new Manor Marussia team principal will be and if any other teams
disappear.
Morris Dancer
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