2018 Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai, April 13-15

[siskue2005]

I guess that you are overlooking the fact that until the SC came out, Vettel was lining up to pass Bottas, on newer tyres.
So even if Ferrari were tardy in calling Vettel in, there was a reason for it, and frankly it was actually working.

Bottas was gradually getting out of DRS zone
It was yoyoing all the time and Vettel never managed to get into DRS again... it was stale mate at the point .... and Vettel only had 1 lap younger tyres so no pace advantage

[siskue2005]

If only those Ferrari strategists had attended the Centre for Advanced Hindsight, they wouldn't make this mistake!

To be fair. Many of the guys here were calling it as it happened. With no or little telemetry.

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Yes I called it at that time... I was shouting at the tv PIT PIT PIT lewis and Kimi ( my wife was not happy )... it was really no brainer at that moment

[siskue2005]

IMO they should bring such one step lower tyre for every race ... it has spiced up the race.... what do u guys think ?

[Mandrake]

Basically after everyone pitted he was left on track for 2 more.laps. While HE was in lead. Ferrari made biggest strat blunder of the year on Seb today...

Yup. When asked in the post race interview what annoyed him most, their strategy or Max's attack he said that it was their mistake with the pit stop strategy.

Seb had a 3.2 second lead and boxed straight after Bottas, they didn't leave him out for 2 more laps. Ferrari thought the gap would be enough to react but Seb didn't have the tyres left and Bottas did a phenomenal outlap. I think a lack of communication on tyre life around that point let them down probably trying to keep it quiet from mercedes but mercedes just went for it.

I am still absolutely baffled. They saw what the Red Bulls were able to do, laptime wise with the mediums and they still didn't get the trick...

[F1NAC]

IMO they should bring such one step lower tyre for every race ... it has spiced up the race.... what do u guys think ?

Nope. They should wait when there is a SC situation and wait for the leaders to pass pit entry and got stuck them behind SC.

[Manoah2u]

The irony that has been missed is that Verstappen actually caused both Vettel and Hamilton to lose places in his nutcase move. Hamilton had to take evasive action off the track which let Raikkonen through.

Don't get me wrong Vettel lost far more but Verstappen managed to cause both of the 4 time WDC's issues in 1 idiotic move.

Bear in mind that Verstappen had also tried a brain dead move in an impossible place on Hamilton only a few laps earlier. Does he never learn?

Apart from that Verstappen was too 'greedy' today, you're blowing things out of proportion.

Verstappens move on Ham was far from brain-dead, it was a phenomenal move but Lewis i'd say actually pulled a really d*ck move on Max which was left completely unattended and quite frankly set a stage.

If you actually have the b*lls to objectively and calmly look at that move of verstappen on Hamilton, then you would have noticed that verstappen was alongside hamilton, when all of a sudden, Hamilton's car made a sudden frisky move to the right, which Max had to evade and sent him off track which then saw Ricciardo pass him.

Hamilton had the line completely under control, and in my opinion, pushed him off track deliberately. there was no braking problems for Lewis, there was no loss of grip, it was a clear signal to Max that he wasn't making it easy on him, in my opinion, a rather ***hole move, especially since Max' front wheels far passed Lewis rear wheels in the corner so Lewis was actually oblidged to leave him space - which he actually totally did not. Apart from all of that,
the outside line was dirty too so there was no grip for Max to respond to Lewis suddenly moving towards him.
even if it wasn't delibarate at all, that doesn't make it a brain-dead move. the only braindead move i saw today
was that of Gasly on Hartley.

Had Lewis not done that move, then Max would have passed him - obviously, he knows this - and zero of all the incidents afterwards would have happened. Instead, we would be celebrating a guaranteed win from Verstappen - not to take away any of the sensational driving DannyRic pulled.

Verstappen taking on Vettel was a risky move and frankly, there was no more room for him to do what he did, so the blame surely is fully with Max, but that does not at all mean that Vettel's race was quite over by then as his tires were out of life anyway. Max got too greedy, all he needed to do was wait for those last 2 corners and he would have passed Vettel on the straight with DRS before corner 1 with two fingers in his nose - so yes a blunt stupid move of Max, but that still doesn't take away Lewis' pushing Max off the track.

I'm not entirely sure i think the 10 sec penalty was fair - a penalty was fair for sure, but i think 5 secs would have been fine enough taking in account previous similar penalties given, or even for much worse. He got the same penalty Gasly had for straight up driving into his teammate, causing debris and a safety car.

In the end though, there are some clear conlusions from China:

1 - Ferrari completely screwed up their race and handed it out on a silver platter to the competition.
2 - Mercedes had very lousy response to the race as it unfolded and similarly handed out their race to the competition.
3 - RedBull has a very strong race package, did pay thorough attention, and as such happily took the prize.

Which means a couple of things:

A ) Ferrari is far from as mighty as they painted in the first 2 races.
B ) Mercedes is capable to do more than we saw in the first 2 races but is really sensitive to pressure and crumbles.
C ) If RB had qually mode and a better engine, Ferrari and Merc didnt stand a chance.

after all, RB had gigantic bad luck in the first 2 races. it is only now that we see their true pace.

Finally, this win could not have come at a better time for both DannyRic and RedBull. If this happens more, DR might very well stay with RB. At the same time, Max really needs to calm down, his hotheaded behaviour (which is a carbon copy of his dads) is costing him a lot, in all 3 races by now already.

[cplchanb]

Merc so far is continually shooting themselves in the foot with missed calls and poor decision making. They had more than enough time to make the call since he was a few seconds behind vers to begin with. Even if ham was on scrubbed soft he prob would've been able to get past vet and stay ahead of the RBs. Worst case scenario would be his tires would fall off in the last few laps and bottas would pass him for the win and maybe even Ric but it would've been worth a shot.

I fear that the lackluster decision making will cost the team the championship in November

[Manoah2u]

Worse of it is that had Hamilton been handed out a pitstop either during the safety car (which probably wasn't wisest but atleast left him immediately within the pack),
or a lap or 3 afterwards, he would have had fresh tires and then had magically reappeared within the top 5 anyway due to the incident between max and vettel,
and thanks to his brand new tires could have potentially passed both Kimi and Bottas in the end and finish 2nd.

At the worst, with the pitstop, Hamilton would have finished where he finished anyway; 5th, and would have gotten the same 'luck' with Max' penalty, so finishing 4th.
But it could have given him 2nd instead.

Mercedes seems all the way back to 2012 in decision making somehow.

[siskue2005]

Worse of it is that had Hamilton been handed out a pitstop either during the safety car (which probably wasn't wisest but atleast left him immediately within the pack),
or a lap or 3 afterwards, he would have had fresh tires and then had magically reappeared within the top 5 anyway due to the incident between max and vettel,
and thanks to his brand new tires could have potentially passed both Kimi and Bottas in the end and finish 2nd.

At the worst, with the pitstop, Hamilton would have finished where he finished anyway; 5th, and would have gotten the same 'luck' with Max' penalty, so finishing 4th.
But it could have given him 2nd instead.

Mercedes seems all the way back to 2012 in decision making somehow.

Yes poor call for Lewis and kimi

[De Jokke]

The irony that has been missed is that Verstappen actually caused both Vettel and Hamilton to lose places in his nutcase move. Hamilton had to take evasive action off the track which let Raikkonen through.

Don't get me wrong Vettel lost far more but Verstappen managed to cause both of the 4 time WDC's issues in 1 idiotic move.

Bear in mind that Verstappen had also tried a brain dead move in an impossible place on Hamilton only a few laps earlier. Does he never learn?

Apart from that Verstappen was too 'greedy' today, you're blowing things out of proportion.

Verstappens move on Ham was far from brain-dead, it was a phenomenal move but Lewis i'd say actually pulled a really d*ck move on Max which was left completely unattended and quite frankly set a stage.

If you actually have the b*lls to objectively and calmly look at that move of verstappen on Hamilton, then you would have noticed that verstappen was alongside hamilton, when all of a sudden, Hamilton's car made a sudden frisky move to the right, which Max had to evade and sent him off track which then saw Ricciardo pass him.

Hamilton had the line completely under control, and in my opinion, pushed him off track deliberately. there was no braking problems for Lewis, there was no loss of grip, it was a clear signal to Max that he wasn't making it easy on him, in my opinion, a rather ***hole move, especially since Max' front wheels far passed Lewis rear wheels in the corner so Lewis was actually oblidged to leave him space - which he actually totally did not. Apart from all of that,
the outside line was dirty too so there was no grip for Max to respond to Lewis suddenly moving towards him.
even if it wasn't delibarate at all, that doesn't make it a brain-dead move. the only braindead move i saw today
was that of Gasly on Hartley.

Had Lewis not done that move, then Max would have passed him - obviously, he knows this - and zero of all the incidents afterwards would have happened. Instead, we would be celebrating a guaranteed win from Verstappen - not to take away any of the sensational driving DannyRic pulled.

Verstappen taking on Vettel was a risky move and frankly, there was no more room for him to do what he did, so the blame surely is fully with Max, but that does not at all mean that Vettel's race was quite over by then as his tires were out of life anyway. Max got too greedy, all he needed to do was wait for those last 2 corners and he would have passed Vettel on the straight with DRS before corner 1 with two fingers in his nose - so yes a blunt stupid move of Max, but that still doesn't take away Lewis' pushing Max off the track.

I'm not entirely sure i think the 10 sec penalty was fair - a penalty was fair for sure, but i think 5 secs would have been fine enough taking in account previous similar penalties given, or even for much worse. He got the same penalty Gasly had for straight up driving into his teammate, causing debris and a safety car.

In the end though, there are some clear conlusions from China:

1 - Ferrari completely screwed up their race and handed it out on a silver platter to the competition.
2 - Mercedes had very lousy response to the race as it unfolded and similarly handed out their race to the competition.
3 - RedBull has a very strong race package, did pay thorough attention, and as such happily took the prize.

Which means a couple of things:

A ) Ferrari is far from as mighty as they painted in the first 2 races.
B ) Mercedes is capable to do more than we saw in the first 2 races but is really sensitive to pressure and crumbles.
C ) If RB had qually mode and a better engine, Ferrari and Merc didnt stand a chance.

after all, RB had gigantic bad luck in the first 2 races. it is only now that we see their true pace.

Finally, this win could not have come at a better time for both DannyRic and RedBull. If this happens more, DR might very well stay with RB. At the same time, Max really needs to calm down, his hotheaded behaviour (which is a carbon copy of his dads) is costing him a lot, in all 3 races by now already.

Reverse the situation: how many times has max done this to others was Lewis did today + what do you expect after bahrain (that he waves him through?). Good to see Lewis giving max a taste of his own medicine.

Please quit the whining over that rbr engine, they have a renault: deal with it. Horner and marko have put themselves in this situation that they're into.

[maxxer]

They couldn't be harder with VER, consistency is what we need from stewards. They gave 10 seconds to Toro Rosso driver and gave same penalty to Verstappen, correct decision in my opinion.

They could be if they are consistent , he would get enough penalty points on his license and a race ban , and then i think they should ban the car not to compete so red bull also gets more strict with him. They told him to calm down after the start , should have done it also while he was behind vettel tell him not yet dude wait till the next turn

[Bill_Kar]

My driver of the day is definitely Bottas.
Sure, Ricciardo was good no doubt, but I think Bottas will leave with some confidence.
He did a fantastic first stint staying close to Vettel, an incredible outlap, a marvellous overtake on Kimi, and he defended really well against Vettel & more so against Kimi towards the end(maybe not so with Ricciardo, but that was inevitable either way).

And then you wonder, what about Hamilton? I felt he was really lost the whole weekend. He is extremely lucky with how things developed

[Bisonas]

The people that want to defend Verstappen after this race should know that they are not helping him.
Yes he is young, Yes he is talented, yes he is a future star but when he messes up, everybody should point it out to him so he can learn from it.
The majority of Verstappen moves last year and this year lacked respect. Most of the times he tries to bully his car into a position, leaving no option to other from conceding/backing off or having contact.
That may worked well last year on second half of the championship, because the people he was fighting had plenty to lose. So Vettel and Hamilton didn't resist him much.
That made Verstappen look good. Abnormally brave and good. It masked the flows of his tactics and of his maneuvers.
This year though on the early stages of the championship, no one is conceding and no one is backing off.
Drivers got fed up with his attitude. No one is Backing off. Hamilton and Vettel certainly will not any more. At least not at this stage of the championship. Hamilton especially was clear about it on both Bahrain and China.
So if there is no conceding , if there is no backing off what's left for Verstappen ?? Contact ofc, or trips to the gravel or grass.
What we are seeing this year is simply a change of how other drivers deal with Verstappen. He didn't lost his talent, or his speed. He just lost his bullying advantage.
At some point he has to re estimate his position and put more finesse on his maneuvers.

[Manoah2u]

Reverse the situation: how many times has max done this to others was Lewis did today + what do you expect after bahrain (that he waves him through?). Good to see Lewis giving max a taste of his own medicine.

vengeance is never a good thing. doesn't take away that indeed Max has caused similar issues with other drivers,
simply pointing out that it's not as fairdinkum bad all the way for Verstappen.

Please quit the whining over that rbr engine, they have a renault: deal with it. Horner and marko have put themselves in this situation that they're into.

there's no whining, it's the cold hard truth. they are dealing with it but the fact remains the same.
Ferrari has managed to pick up the pace and have an engine that is on par or perhaps even surpassing that of Mercedes by now. Meanwhile, Renault is still out in the dry. At the very least, both FER and MER have qually mode, Renault does not. That is of no fault of RB, that is purely down to Renault, and RB is paying the price for that.

And no, Marko and Horner did NOT put themselves into that situation. Renault singlehandedly dropped the ball in 2014. The only blame for RB is that they did not politically respond to that situation correctly. But that does not take away Renault gigantically dropped the ball, just as Honda is still behind.

Horner and Marko did not make the Renault engine, Renault did. and we're 4 years on now and the Renault engine is still miles behind.

Hence if Renault actually had qually mode, they could have been in the battle for pole, which makes all the difference for the race itself. It is without any doubt that RedBulls race craft is very impressive, and is quite frankly exceeding that of Ferrari and Mercedes.

[maxxer]

Daniel Ricciardo finished in the end with a for these days in F1 8.894s gap to the next best car which had no problems at all.
So he could have backed off and kept the gap at 2 - 3 seconds in the end, like mercedes and ferrari like to do these days.
Maybe now we can also stop with the one stop races trying to make tyres go way longer then necessary and just slap some fresh ones on and race till the end.