Justin:
Erm, wow. What an absolutely stonking race. Now, THAT's why I love F1.
Aggression Vs Defence = Crash, Bang, Wallop
Hamilton made a good start, getting the better of Rosberg, but then Nico caught a good tow and went around the outside at turn 1. A ballsy move, proving that he was ready to fight with Lewis in a one on one race. Then coming out of turn 3, Nico was a lot slower (which we later found was an engine mode issue...though I inferred at one point that it was a battery thing from Wolff's interview...anyway).
At first, after I'd finished jumping up and down and screaming at the TV, I thought it was possibly more Lewis at fault...or did I think anyone was really at fault? It looked to me like the overspeed had caught Lewis out a bit (though later he said he knew Nico had engine mode problems and that he had to go for the gap).
So, Lewis went aggressive and wanted to take advantage and pass there and then, Nico went defensive. Bang.
Nico was entitled to shut the door, in my opinion. Lewis is a racer and was going for a gap, but it was very much from the Senna school of "I'm coming through, don't you dare turn in, if you do, we crash!".
File under racing incident. The stewards and indeed Mercedes said no guy was 100% to blame. Judge for yourselves.
Of the two drivers, Rosberg looked slightly more annoyed in the post race interviews - See here a link to Channel 4 F1.
Hamilton seemed rather at peace with it all. I should point out that neither tripped up over the tricky interview questions. "Are you saying you weren't to blame?"......Nico replied "I didn't say that". Plus he said what was talked about in the de-brief stays private.
Lewis too was pretty fair and even handed in his answers.
Monaco next. That will lessen the tension for sure...
The race they left behind
It was an awesome race. 4 cars in with a shout of winning, near the end too, is somewhat of a rare sight in F1 these days.
I'm getting a bit annoyed with Vettel having a good old heat of the moment whinge when someone does something he doesn't like, such as try and overtake him - gasp! Then afterwards he admitted he said stuff in the heat of the moment when Ricciardo tried a bold pass into turn 1.
I think Ricciardo is completely correct to ask Red Bull why he was pulled in and changed to the slower three stop strategy, which seemingly released Max to victory on the two stop.
Congratulations to Max Verstappen though. He drove an absolutely flawless race and really has to be my driver of the day doesn't he?
We should spare a thought for Daniil Kvyat. I can't find the Channel 4 interview with him after the race, but boy did he look peeved.
Channel 4 coverage
I was tweeting before the race started and noticed a few ney sayers regarding Steve Jones.
I like him as an F1 presenter. He works well with DC. And Susie and Alain were awesome today also.
People have short memories. It took Suzi Perry a while to hit her stride and she made a few errors in her first year. That's the nature of live TV.
I liked the Channel 4 nod to the fact that some people on the internet didn't like Jones much, when he was told by Susie to be a travel agent instead of an F1 presenter on their car journey to the track.
Steve is enthusiastic and happy to be there. To be fair, if I was presenting, it's probably not far off how I'd be. He's a bit of a fanboy. Anyone notice him touching Prost a lot during qualifying? Heehee.
Kudos to them bringing in Prost. That man is a legend. They also had to nearly cut him off from talking too long a few times. Hehehe.
The way they present too, is working well. Chopping and changing from one presenter to another, in a different part of the paddock. True, the BBC coverage did some of this, but C4 do it on another level.
To Monaco we go!!! The Mercedes boys will be trying to not touch each other at all.
PS - worth noting that Andrew Benson tweeted after qualifying that Alonso was right to leave his contract early, based on the fact he wouldnt have won any titles if he'd have seen it to the end of 2016. Bang on frankly. Ferrari were over a second behind the Mercedes duo.
Sunday 15 May 2016
Monday 2 May 2016
Round 4: Russia
Justin:
Best radio transmission of the year, or any year in recent history..
Clearly goes to Mr Vettel. Amongst the many bleeps, he was essentially exasperated at being punted off not once, but twice! Classic, amusing stuff there. Kvyat admitted fault for turn 2 as he locked up, but at turn 3 Vettel was lifting off because he thought he had damage. It's a bit more difficult to react when you are following someone a metre behind at 200mph, when they suddenly slow down where they are meant to be doing flat out.
Ferrari are not having the best of starts to a season at all. Then again, Kimi has collected two podiums in as many races. You'd have thought Vettel could have done more though.
Fun racing, but not at the front
It was a great race to watch, with plenty going on through the field, except at the front. Rosberg was comfortable in leading throughout and took his 4th win of the year, 7th in a row (joining Ascari and Schumacher on that tally, with only Vettel on 9 ahead of him). I've said this before...Hamilton ran off like a scalded dog for most of 2015 and there was no fighting at the front. Same for Rosberg right now.
Once again his main competition had problems and fell away at the start (Vettel), or even before the start (Hamilton with his engine issues starting 10th).
Rosberg knows the challenge will come eventually. Hamilton knows too. He also knows he can't buy any luck at all right now.
McLaren rising?
Alonso the racer and fighter is still there, as evidenced by him going round the outside of all the mess at turn 3. Opportunity/ luck/ instinct...call it what you will, it lifted him to 8th and he eventually finished 6th. Button took 10th and despite Vettel falling off the track, both guys said the pace was there and a double points finish was on merit.
Driver of the day
Max was running second for a while, Alonso got a good result. Both Williams drivers did well too. Magnussen came 7th....in a Renault. Right there is my driver of the day I think. Either him or Hamilton.
To Spain in two weeks we go. I want a fight at the front between Lewis and Nico.
Might be worth pointing out that it's twenty years since Damon Hill won the championship. To date, he is the only world champion son of a world champion. To date. Twenty years is a nice round number no?
The final word is for Ayrton Senna. I read somewhere that the Russian GP this year was the first to be held on May 1st since Senna died 22 years ago. Wow. 22 years. Still feels like yesterday.
A legend. He passed away on raceday, but of course we cannot forget Roland Ratzenberger, who died the day before.
Both guys were 34, which I only just realised.
Best radio transmission of the year, or any year in recent history..
Clearly goes to Mr Vettel. Amongst the many bleeps, he was essentially exasperated at being punted off not once, but twice! Classic, amusing stuff there. Kvyat admitted fault for turn 2 as he locked up, but at turn 3 Vettel was lifting off because he thought he had damage. It's a bit more difficult to react when you are following someone a metre behind at 200mph, when they suddenly slow down where they are meant to be doing flat out.
Ferrari are not having the best of starts to a season at all. Then again, Kimi has collected two podiums in as many races. You'd have thought Vettel could have done more though.
Fun racing, but not at the front
It was a great race to watch, with plenty going on through the field, except at the front. Rosberg was comfortable in leading throughout and took his 4th win of the year, 7th in a row (joining Ascari and Schumacher on that tally, with only Vettel on 9 ahead of him). I've said this before...Hamilton ran off like a scalded dog for most of 2015 and there was no fighting at the front. Same for Rosberg right now.
Once again his main competition had problems and fell away at the start (Vettel), or even before the start (Hamilton with his engine issues starting 10th).
Rosberg knows the challenge will come eventually. Hamilton knows too. He also knows he can't buy any luck at all right now.
McLaren rising?
Alonso the racer and fighter is still there, as evidenced by him going round the outside of all the mess at turn 3. Opportunity/ luck/ instinct...call it what you will, it lifted him to 8th and he eventually finished 6th. Button took 10th and despite Vettel falling off the track, both guys said the pace was there and a double points finish was on merit.
Driver of the day
Max was running second for a while, Alonso got a good result. Both Williams drivers did well too. Magnussen came 7th....in a Renault. Right there is my driver of the day I think. Either him or Hamilton.
To Spain in two weeks we go. I want a fight at the front between Lewis and Nico.
Might be worth pointing out that it's twenty years since Damon Hill won the championship. To date, he is the only world champion son of a world champion. To date. Twenty years is a nice round number no?
The final word is for Ayrton Senna. I read somewhere that the Russian GP this year was the first to be held on May 1st since Senna died 22 years ago. Wow. 22 years. Still feels like yesterday.
A legend. He passed away on raceday, but of course we cannot forget Roland Ratzenberger, who died the day before.
Both guys were 34, which I only just realised.
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