Russia: post-race analysis
Must admit, not my
favourite race of the year. The first lap or two was dramatic, the
final few were tense, the intervening fifty were tedious. And the tip
I offered failed (particularly irksome given the other two I was
contemplating, at longer odds, both came off). Still, that’s why
it’s called gambling rather than incredibly safe investment
planning.
Alonso saved time by
having his car break down before the race began. This led to a second
formation lap.
Off the line, the
Ferraris were slow. Bottas passed both of them and Hamilton nearly
got past Raikkonen, who fought back well.
Grosjean knocked into
Palmer, who spun, taking out both cars. A safety car emerged, and a
few backmarkers (I think Vandoorne and Wehrlein) came in for a lap
one pit stop, so they could run ultrasofts for the rest of the race,
but everyone else stayed out.
A few laps after the
safety car came back in, Ricciardo’s brakes failed. He was able to
return to the pits, but his race was done. With four chaps out within
five laps, I only needed one more for the tip to come off.
It never happened. But
then, not much of anything happened. On the supersofts, after the pit
stops, Vettel was clearly faster than Bottas but the nature of the
circuit (tedious) made it difficult for him to get close enough to
even attempt a pass, although the last few laps were quite tense. The
Finn held on for his maiden triumph. Hamilton was off the pace and
miles behind 3rd-placed Raikkonen. The Englishman will be pleased his
title rival didn’t get the full 25 points, but Vettel still
extended his lead.
Verstappen was 5th.
Massa had to have a second pit stop due to a slow puncture. This
elevated Perez and Ocon to 6th and 7th respectively and put
Massa behind Hulkenberg (8th). Nice to see the Renault be
ok, if not stellar, on race pace. Still a deficit from qualifying, I
think.
Sainz got the last
point, Stroll finishing 11th (probably pleased just to
finish).
So, a mostly boring
race that was also red. Humbug. Kudos to whoever it was (perhaps Mr.
B?) who suggested Bottas for the win each way. I did give it serious
thought, but my judgement betrayed me. With the short odds pole tip
coming off, the weekend as a whole has been mildly red. More Chinese
burn than shark attack.
We did learn that the
Mercedes may be better on the ultrasoft, and have confirmed the
excellence of the Ferrari on the supersoft.
Drivers’:
Vettel 86
Hamilton 73
Bottas 63
Raikkonen 49
Not ideal for Vettel
but he stretches his lead. Hamilton will be disappointed to have been
lacklustre all weekend, but to only lose six points to his title
rival, rather than 13, may perk him up a little.
Constructors’:
Mercedes 136
Ferrari 135
Although the drivers’
points tallies have spread a bit, the teams remain locked together.
The next race is in a fortnight, in Spain.
Morris Dancer
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