Lewis Hamilton outpaced Max Verstappen to take pole position for the German Grand Prix. It ended up in a fairly straight forward affair for the Briton, as both Ferraris, who had been closest earlier in the weekend, suffered technical trouble.
I dont know if you are sarcastic or are really so oblivious to how racing and pit stops work.
Verstappen went into the pits again to put Inters on as he first went on to the mediums when he spun.
Verstappen gained by dropping into the pits for a second time when the safety car was out/yellow flags.
So technically you can view it pre Hamilton getting a tyre he didn’t want and cruising he had a pit stop to make, Bottas had pit for the medium which was a mistake, Verstappen the medium which was a mistake and they both went in again for Inters. Hamilton would’ve been ahead comfortably if they put him on Inters.
Mercedes pulled the gun too soon and should’ve just left him out as he had 12 seconds after a stop and with the others pitting again technically 30 seconds.
Same logic applies to Verstappen. If only they had him stay on inters
True GOATs don’t need the help of superior material to win.
Verstappen new wet king, this was a GOAT-level performance
Umm not really. I dont think he drove his best nor better than others out there. Bottas had the better of him and he was actually saved by his not being able to cope with the conditions as he came in to the pits for the first set of inters. kuddos to redbull for making the right calls every single time.
This race didnt showcase any driver skill for any of the drivers. It was just a big crap shoot.
I think there have been more epic wet races than this one.
The midfield guys were the stars. Vettel on maz on the podium but i cant really say any of them drove as well as the midfielders.
This race didnt showcase any driver skill for any of the drivers. It was just a big crap shoot.
I think there have been more epic wet races than this one.
Personally, I wouldn't even call this a wet race. As you said it's a complete crap shoot, and why I hate races like this.
Yup, the "brilliant drive here" or there is all nonsense. And 'Vettel from 20th to 2nd". So what, Stroll went from 20th with 20 laps to go to leading the race for half a lap to finishing 4th in the end was it. Comparing it to last year, Ham got to 1st not by a bunch of safety cars, luck and crazy goings on but pure performance throughout.
It was also a shame, the conditions were poor for a good changing condition race because it took an age to dry up enough and almost the entire wet portion of the race wasn't actually wet enough that there are two lines through multiple corners. When we have proper wet, then you can make great moves around the outside, there wasn't much passing, it was almost all on straights, there were few fantastic moves in the slow corners where someone uses the alternative line. In that sense it was highly unpredictable and great to watch but I think poor actual racing.
Ham, Verstappen and Leclerc all effectively had the same problem, pit for slicks, a huge mistake on the outlap and it just cost each driver a different amount by pure luck. Max could have shot off to the left, got on the icy stuff and spun into the wall but ended up on the otherside which was actually way safer. Leclerc hit the wall and couldn't get out and Ham hit the wall and could get out. Realistically the result of the similar mistake for all three could have not effected Leclerc, put Ham out and caused Verstappen damage, a pitstop and a penalty just as easily.
Vettel had a overall pretty poor race, he was slow through most of the wet race, got the pitstops pretty lucky and due to how the last couple of safety cars went being slow earlier didn't cost him then he just had seemingly a very very fast car in the dry and made mincemeat of cars that couldn't compete in the dry line.
Good for him though, no major mistakes and nice to see as he had horrible luck on Saturday, but making a big deal out of the drive is ott.
I would say Brazil 2016 was a truly brilliant drive from Max, and a great drive by Hamilton in that it was perfect but not at all exciting to watch as he was faultless from the front. That was a real wet track where the whole track being wet and not everyone using worn inters on a basically single dry line while being useless off that line, we had fantastic overtakes on pretty much every corner of the track. This race needed to be wetter, or dry much quicker and become safe to properly race in the dry. I guess the way I'd put it, this was a hugely hugely eventful race, but had poor actual racing.
I agree with the race being a crap shoot. I don't agree that Bottas had the better of Max just that he had a better position on the circuit then him. Max's only mistake however came when red bull put him on the medium for some stupid reason instead of the soft.
I will not agree that Gasly will lose his seat because the race was such a crap shoot and to me it was clear that albon moved across a second time in the incident that caused Gasly's retirement. Had that not occured I think Gasly probably would have gotten to fourth place as the faster cars were easily able to move past the slower car on the soft tyres.
Drawing parallels with last year we see the championship leader spinning off... Of course it's a silly comparison I'm just saying Mercedes is not going to win this championship easily the way this season is developing the last three races, who would've thought in France. And let's be honest merc as a team, ham and bot as drivers had a dreadful day today, the bulletproof-ness has some cracks to show. Looking forward to the rest of the season.
Red Bull is going to start racking up the PU penalties after the summer break.
Ham, Verstappen and Leclerc all effectively had the same problem, pit for slicks, a huge mistake on the outlap and it just cost each driver a different amount by pure luck. Max could have shot off to the left, got on the icy stuff and spun into the wall but ended up on the otherside which was actually way safer. Leclerc hit the wall and couldn't get out and Ham hit the wall and could get out. Realistically the result of the similar mistake for all three could have not effected Leclerc, put Ham out and caused Verstappen damage, a pitstop and a penalty just as easily.
The race was genuinely entertaining, I mean there was always something going on and as fans that's what we want. I agree with you however that it was basically a crap shoot and any driver in the top teams could have won it had their team not made a mistake in the strategy but they all did. Basically it was a race that demanded inters all the way through until the last 20% of the race and by that time all of the carnage had shaken the upside down results and rewarded those few that did manage to take the right gamble at the right time.
Entertaining as all hell though... and holy mother of god! Kubica got a point!
So that was a fun race! Well done Verstappen and RBR, a bit lucky with the SC's but they delivered nonetheless. Great result for Vettel, that should make up a little for last year's disaster. But Kvyat is driver of the day for me. He was overdue for some luck, the way RedBull has treated him, and maybe this will open the door back to the senior team again. Mercedes what? Lol, you can't win them all. And Sainz just keeps stringing up strong results. Loved how Raikkonen just blazed through the field in the opening stages, hated how was let down by a ultra-slow pitstop.
Indeed! Very surprised to see two Hondas on the podium. Good for Kvyat. Sainz had good timing with his slide ending just before the wall. STR in fifth place WDC. Verstappen closing in on Bottas. Amazing.
- Masterful wet race by Hamilton. Spin, off, car damage, penalty, then blaming the team. Pretty funny after all the wise comments by impartial F1 experts
When they give tyres that go against the wishes of the driver who is actually on track then we can quite rightly blame the team for doing a bad job, it was their mistake that set of the chain of events, that is quite clear to most observers.
He did not have to heed their advice. Remember ininininin, last year?
Drawing parallels with last year we see the championship leader spinning off... Of course it's a silly comparison I'm just saying Mercedes is not going to win this championship easily the way this season is developing the last three races, who would've thought in France. And let's be honest merc as a team, ham and bot as drivers had a dreadful day today, the bulletproof-ness has some cracks to show. Looking forward to the rest of the season.
Red Bull is going to start racking up the PU penalties after the summer break.
Only one expected in Monza. Then Honda spec. 4.0 till the end. Game on.
Of course it's a silly comparison I'm just saying Mercedes is not going to win this championship easily the way this season is developing the last three races, who would've thought in France. And let's be honest merc as a team, ham and bot as drivers had a dreadful day today, the bulletproof-ness has some cracks to show. Looking forward to the rest of the season.
