2017 United States Grand Prix - COTA, 20-22 October

[godlameroso]

Great race, I think they should have let Max have it, definitely driver of the day, shame for Alonso he was having a good race. The championship is over, bar any catastrophic failures for Hamilton it's as good as done. The Ferrari just couldn't make the tires last as well as the Mercedes, Raikkonen was easily the faster of the two. Vettel should have gone soft soft, the super is not different enough from the ultra to warrant it's use for Ferrari.

On to the next one, Mexico becomes a very enjoyable track with the new cars, the mid speed corners are precisely where the new cars gain over the old ones. The second and third sector become quite nice.

If I didn't know any better I'd say Pirelli have introduced new compounds under our noses because only Hamilton could make the one stop work. Only because Vettel was uncharacteristically slow today, shame.

[Sieper]

Don't say that, --- race by Max, no pace, no skill, a vile cheat and his fans are all senseless idiots. Dud of the day.

Hamilton and Ferrari are great though.

Dude, your bias is showing. I'm no Max fan, but any drive from 16th to 4th with the kinds of passes Max pulled off is an excellent drive.

Moose, I was being sarcastic, of course you can give the punishment, I was watching with 4 friends and amidst the cheering I immediatelly said so. I would even hope Max has it in him to react politically correct, just to prevent others having ammo to take a shot at him. It was a great drive, he had to make a move and Kimi did squeeze a bit but I am deflated they took the podium away in the mannen they did. And even more so having to read a multitude of reactions starting the same as I without being sarcastic. Really undeserved and even hurtfull. Now all the attention is only on that and not on the great drive it actually was. Ferrari even pulled Seb in to defend pos2! Didn't see that one comming

[TAG]

I don't have enough info on the penalty that led to the podium fiasco and I certainly don't have any skin in the game, but purely putting myself in the position of an observer; Egg on the face of Liberty Media, egg on the face of the FiA and egg on the face of the sport to call in a guy as he was about to step on the podium.

IMO this could have been handled so much better from a PR standpoint. Let the decision be made afterwards, the way they have done for other things many times in the past, let the crowds go home, and then give Kimi guy his third place finish tomorrow.

I can imagine people having a look trying to figure this F1 thing out going...

I know there's the well Kimi should be allowed to celebrate his podium finish, but IMO the embarrassment of poor cuckold Kimi having to "celebrate" his accomplishment under the circumstances. No.



Actually I found this video as I was writing the post. Watching this, you get the sense the the sport should be encouraging it, not penalizing it.

[Sieper]

Those video's are quite clear. It was an intentional decision by Max. Sure Kimi came in, and sure it was short but he went for it. They can penalize.

It felt more then a little undeserved for the race he put in though.

[ClarkBT11]

I hope Renault give Sainz a good car next year, he drove perfectly all week. Shame he ran out of fuel and couldn't attack Ocon at the end. Looking forward to comparing him to Hulkenberg next week. Just shows how bad Palmer was this season.

[Sieper]

Sainz was rocksolid. Even his manoeuvres were clean, not so overly aggresive as sometimes before. Keep this going and he finally makes true on his statements about himselve.

[ringo]

Those video's are quite clear. It was an intentional decision by Max. Sure Kimi came in, and sure it was short but he went for it. They can penalize.

It felt more then a little undeserved for the race he put in though.

Yep!!
Clear from the video. Phil have your opinion changed on Kimi now?
It just looked to me like Max had a eureka moment and cut the track to get the better entry into the next turn.
Very cheeky of him.. I don't feel so bad for him now. But i guess it's the racer in him that tries to do everything possible to get ahead.

[zeph]

I'm surprised Mercedes didn't file a complaint about the way Verstappen ran Bottas off the road. That looked like a penalty to me.

[Silent Storm]

I'm surprised Mercedes didn't file a complaint about the way Verstappen ran Bottas off the road. That looked like a penalty to me.

That was more like a normal exit understeer when you carry too much speed into the corner, if he had straightened his steering wheel to push Bottas out then they would have filed a complaint.

[foxmulder_ms]

Hamilton deserves this championship very much. Especially compared to Bottas, he is epic.

Very glad with Carlos's form with Reneult.

Max 100% deserved the penalty. He cut the corner, he passed Kimi literately by short-cutting. It is very different than other "off"s, "running wide". And him saying "next year people should not come" is very rich. lol....

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Once again, Lewis showing his racing brain.

He went to cover Vettel at the start, but gave enough room for Vettel to move on. Then he assures his team about the pace and then goes a clinical move. Post race, while talking to Sky, he mentioned something important when asked about early pace that Vettel had against him. He said, he was taking care of the tyres early on, specially through turn 9 because he had worked up on which corners to push the tyres and which ones to conserve. He saw Vettel pushing harder through turn 9 and thought, if Vettel keeps doing it, his tyres will be gone and IT happened, allowing Hamilton to come closer and make a move.

He was also very cautious with Verstappen, who defended the inside line going into turn 12, after the long straight. Lewis did not bother about attacking him there, but overtook Verstappen a couple of corners later, where he was probably not expecting Lewis to do it.

So far, we could see 3 on track battles between Hamilton and Vettel and in all those 3, Hamilton has won the battle.

[NathanOlder]

So far, we could see 3 on track battles between Hamilton and Vettel and in all those 3, Hamilton has won the battle.

Just like the battles with Rosberg, Lewis comes out on top every time

[marvin78]

So far, we could see 3 on track battles between Hamilton and Vettel and in all those 3, Hamilton has won the battle.

Just like the battles with Rosberg, Lewis comes out on top every time

Only in this case, he has not the same but a much better car than his opponnent. So you can't compare it. But nevertheless a deserved title. Even more than some before.

[Restomaniac]

Once again, Lewis showing his racing brain.

He went to cover Vettel at the start, but gave enough room for Vettel to move on. Then he assures his team about the pace and then goes a clinical move. Post race, while talking to Sky, he mentioned something important when asked about early pace that Vettel had against him. He said, he was taking care of the tyres early on, specially through turn 9 because he had worked up on which corners to push the tyres and which ones to conserve. He saw Vettel pushing harder through turn 9 and thought, if Vettel keeps doing it, his tyres will be gone and IT happened, allowing Hamilton to come closer and make a move.

He was also very cautious with Verstappen, who defended the inside line going into turn 12, after the long straight. Lewis did not bother about attacking him there, but overtook Verstappen a couple of corners later, where he was probably not expecting Lewis to do it.

So far, we could see 3 on track battles between Hamilton and Vettel and in all those 3, Hamilton has won the battle.

Indeed. On another level.

Want some REALLY good news though?
McLaren seem to have a really good car if they and Alonso can drag that Honda into what would have been solid points.
RedBull seem again to be close with Verstappen and Ricciardo behind the wheel.

You could possibly throw a blanket over these 5 in 2018.
Hamilton in the Mercedes.
Vettel in the Ferrari.
Verstappen in the RedBull.
Ricciardo in the RedBull.
Alonso in the McLaren.


I haven't even mentioned the immediately quick Sainz in the works Renault. The same Renault who will via phone calls, texts and emails no doubt already have everyone else's secrets.

You're welcome

[Vasconia]

What a race!!!

Hamilton was clearly the fastest guy out there. Even with Mercedes bad strategy he was +10 seconds ahead. He only waited until Vettel burned his tyres. The German pushed too hard but just because Ferrari had no enough pace to pull away from Mercedes. Lewis drove with one had, masterfully, but with one hand. The only bad thing by Sebastian was how he was overtaken by Lewis, it seems that Hamilton took him by surprise.

Anyway, his overtake when he was chasing Bottas was truly spectacular. For a second I thought he was going to hit the McLaren. Risky but spectacular move.

Once again Mercedes did weird things like delaying Hamilton´s stop too much and almost making possible an undercut. Bad move. And then not pitting Bottas to let him having a better pace in the last stint.

Spectacular race by Max but I guess he thinks he can do whatever he wants. He can´t.

What a debut by Carlos with Renault!!! fast, consitent and his overtake over Perez was amazing!. Awesome job.