2017 Russian Grand Prix - Sochi Autodrom, April 28-30

[Phil]

OH come on????? Again it is car's fault that Hamilton just sucked this weekend?

Have you even bothered to watch the race or are you just trolling?

He was all over the radio fighting overheating everytime he closed the gap to Kimi. Compare this to last race when he spent most of it in close approximation to Bottas without any such issues.

[Chene_Mostert]

OH come on????? Again it is car's fault that Hamilton just sucked this weekend?

Have you even bothered to watch the race or are you just trolling?

He was all over the radio fighting overheating everytime he closed the gap to Kimi. Compare this to last race when he spent most of it in close approximation to Bottas without any such issues.

excuses, panic, Hamilton not in his "bubble"

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Well done to Valteri, he drove a perfect race. Seb was never going to get past unless he forced Valteri into an error or took a desperate lung down the inside somewhere. Sotchi is not a track that encourages lots of passes.

I like Vettel's race engineer's confidence (or rather a bit of arrogance) while asking Vettel to pressurize Bottas and saying, "HE WILL MAKE A MISTAKE". Will?

Yes, He should have said " based on previous laps the there is a high statistical probability that Bottas might make another mistake under increased pressure, since his earlier mistake too place without much pressure"

But that radio message would be too long in a race situation.

At that point, I was actually thinking Vettel had better statistical chance of doing it than Bottas. Like in US'12 and Australia'16. So, a bit of let down that the engineer had no statistical awareness !

[Fulcrum]

Proof, to me anyway, you don't need overtaking to create an entertaining race.

That said, aside from the relative closeness at the front, the race was a complete procession. Were there any genuine overtakes after the safety car?

Hamilton was nowhere all weekend in the 3rd sector. I had hoped he could dial the car back in during the race, but not to be. Damage limited considering Vettel didn't take 1st.

[Chene_Mostert]

I like Vettel's race engineer's confidence (or rather a bit of arrogance) while asking Vettel to pressurize Bottas and saying, "HE WILL MAKE A MISTAKE". Will?

Yes, He should have said " based on previous laps the there is a high statistical probability that Bottas might make another mistake under increased pressure, since his earlier mistake too place without much pressure"

But that radio message would be too long in a race situation.

At that point, I was actually thinking Vettel had better statistical chance of doing it than Bottas. Like in US'12 and Australia'16. So, a bit of let down that the engineer had no statistical awareness !

They were racing in Russia, 2017, today. Bottas made a mistake.

[F1NAC]

OH come on????? Again it is car's fault that Hamilton just sucked this weekend?

Have you even bothered to watch the race or are you just trolling?

He was all over the radio fighting overheating everytime he closed the gap to Kimi. Compare this to last race when he spent most of it in close approximation to Bottas without any such issues.

was the car overheating during Q also? come on. I'm not trolling

[aral]

Bottas just beat your superior red car with his mediocre chassis / areo

yes, yes he did! well done, Seb extended WC lead!

And the both Ferraris on 3rd Turbo.

Oh, not that old chestnut again? The turbos were being rotated and there has only been one damaged turbo this year. All turbos will be re-used during the season apart from the fire damaged on which had a split casing.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Yes, He should have said " based on previous laps the there is a high statistical probability that Bottas might make another mistake under increased pressure, since his earlier mistake too place without much pressure"

But that radio message would be too long in a race situation.

At that point, I was actually thinking Vettel had better statistical chance of doing it than Bottas. Like in US'12 and Australia'16. So, a bit of let down that the engineer had no statistical awareness !

They were racing in Russia, 2017, today. Bottas made a mistake.

Just like Vettel made at the start and gave away the win !

[nevill3]

OH come on????? Again it is car's fault that Hamilton just sucked this weekend?

These cars are running at peak performance and any slight deviance from perfection shows, less than a seconds difference in pace shows that all four cars are quicker than the rest of the field and all things being equal any one of the four could win numerous races this year. Hamilton could not find a balance for his car this weekend and this compromised his race pace. Valteri has aced his setup and his start to win today.

The rest of the season looks promising as long as Ferrari and Mercedes do not impose team orders too soon

[Chene_Mostert]

At that point, I was actually thinking Vettel had better statistical chance of doing it than Bottas. Like in US'12 and Australia'16. So, a bit of let down that the engineer had no statistical awareness !

They were racing in Russia, 2017, today. Bottas made a mistake.

Just like Vettel made at the start and gave away the win !

Yes he "gifted" the win. Mercedes style.

[dans79]

excuses, panic, Hamilton not in his "bubble"

So I take it you spent most of the race overindulging in your lounge as you said previously, and completely missed the the flames coming out of Hamilton left front during the pit stop?

[GPR-A duplicate2]

They were racing in Russia, 2017, today. Bottas made a mistake.

Just like Vettel made at the start and gave away the win !

Yes he "gifted" the win. Mercedes style.

If such are the starts the Ferrari are going to make, Mercedes can expect more such gifts.

[Bill_Kar]

Congratulations Valtteri Bottas! What a weekend, what a drive, what a win! Well deserved.

Hamilton had a really weird race. He demonstrated he had pace, but once closing in, he had overheating problems. Not sure if Bottas suffered similarly but to a lesser degree when coming up on back markers. Vettel/Ferrari clearly demonstrated though that they have no issues driving close at this race... did Mercedes get the cooling slightly wrong this race or did they just have an issue on Hamiltons race? That gap in the end is shocking - did he just turn down the car and limp it home in 4th?

As I see it, it is more of a Hamilton's thing.Yes Bottas lost a lot more time behind backmarkers than Vettel, but I think this is due to his inexperience and maybe a bit of anxiety not to crash.
Remember in Bahrain when he was in front of Vettel he was constantly changing his braking line because Vettel was distracting him in the mirrors.It's normal, the lad is not used to race winning pressure, he almost screwed up here in Russia (when he went off some 12 laps before the chequered flag) but otherwise it was brilliant performance.I think this race will affect him in a good psychologically manner.

Vettel extended his lead, so technically he was a winner coming out of this race.But, these extra 7 points were very tempting and eventually losing them could turn out to be crucial.But, this is IF.Brilliant racing by him as well.

[nevill3]

What has just occurred to me is that the last two races Mercedes have had a car out of its optimum operating window and suffered in the race from lack of sustainable pace. Ferrari have a car that appears to be less sensitive.

Toto commented in the build up to the race that their car is a little bit temperamental just like a lady!!

[Chene_Mostert]

excuses, panic, Hamilton not in his "bubble"

So I take it you spent most of the race overindulge in your lounge as you said previously, and completely missed the the flames coming out of Hamilton left front during the pit stop?

Please don't over exaggerate, just some glowing ignited carbon dust due to increased air content from wheel gun. Very common with carbon racing brakes.... if you pay attention to other cars, not just Mercedes Power Plus, you would have noticed many times before