China: post-race analysis
The Alonso bet came off, which I'm quite pleased about. The hedge was matched, but I suspect it would've been green even if Ricciardo had passed him near the end. Obviously it was better to do without hedging, for the second race in a row, but I'll never complain about a green result.
Unfortunately, Raikkonen continues to struggle with the Ferrari, and Vettel (possibly due to strategy errors) was again outclassed by his team mate, so Mr. Putney's tips did not, alas, come off.
Unfortunately, Raikkonen continues to struggle with the Ferrari, and Vettel (possibly due to strategy errors) was again outclassed by his team mate, so Mr. Putney's tips did not, alas, come off.
It's fair to say the race was not a classic, particularly after the excellence of Bahrain (feels odd typing that).
Before the race the assumption was it would be dry, there'd be a fair bit of tyre degradation and the number of stops could be 2 or possibly 3.
Off the line Hamilton retained the lead, Rosberg left the handbrake on, and Massa made a flying start (again) only to collide with Alonso and drift back. The Spaniard, meanwhile, leapt into third and was very nearly into second. Rosberg went back to about sixth (behind Hulkenberg) after the first few corners.
Rosberg then began an inexorable climb through the field as his Silver Arrow flew past lesser cars. However, Hamilton spent the whole race cruising. He used less fuel than everyone else, his tyre wear was usually less, and he was never truly challenged. It was a rather lovely day for him.
Hulkenberg found himself in a Williams sandwich (behind Massa, ahead of Bottas). Massa had a very slow pit stop (the pit crew apparently had the wrong rear tyres) and was dead last when he finally left the pits, removing him from the equation. Hulkenberg and Bottas stayed close to one another for the whole race, but the German just squeaked across the line ahead of the Finn.
Ahead of them, the Red Bulls again had some interesting radio chatter. Vettel was asked to let Ricciardo past, asked what tyres the Aussie had and, upon learning they were the same compound but fresher due to an earlier pit stop, replied “Tough luck.” He later let Ricciardo past, after a message suggesting the Aussie was on 2 stops (implying Vettel was on 3, but if this was the case he converted to a 2 stop). Ricciardo ended up 4th and Vettel 5th.
Alonso had driven superbly to acquire second in the race but could not keep Rosberg behind him. In third, Ricciardo was narrowing the gap but not enough, and Alonso secured Ferrari's first podium of the season. It does seem the Prancing Horse has made a substantial performance gain over most others.
Raikkonen scraped 8th, a mile behind Alonso, Perez got 9th, and Kvyat continues to impress as he nabbed the final point.
However, the Silver Arrows remain in a league of their own. Of the 4 races to date they have 4 wins and 3 second places. It might be tedious, were it not for the absence of team orders. Things are looking very good for Hamilton, but Rosberg retains the lead, and if he can win in Monaco that could bode well for Abu Dhabi, where double points could yet determine the victor.
I've had a quick check, and so far in the three more or less fair races (not counting Australia where Hamilton had a reliability-related DNF) the result (between Hamilton and Rosberg) has been the same as 2013. Not only in the race, but qualifying as well (Rosberg got Bahrain pole in 2013), including Australia. That may well be worth keeping an eye on.
After four races the drivers are as follows:
Rosberg 79
Hamilton 75
Alonso 41
Hulkenberg 36
Vettel 33
And the teams:
Mercedes 154
Red Bull 57
Force India 54
Ferrari 52
So, it's pretty tight in the battle to be the third driver or the second team. Ferrari have taken a leap forward in Shanghai, and I think Red Bull have also improved a bit, although it's worth noting both Red Bulls went backwards in the race. With three out of four qualifying sessions so far in the wet they may not necessarily be indicative of how qualifying will go from now on.
More importantly, with the quartet of initial fly-aways over and a three week gap to the European portion of the calendar, teams will be rushing to get updates to their cars as often as possible. The pecking order will almost certainly change, although Mercedes would probably have to work hard to lose their immense advantage (until later in the season, and I'd be surprised if they lost it even then. Brawn only did in 2009 because the firm had been gutted in a bid to make ends meet when Toyota pulled out).
Races after that are very regular, a fortnight apart save for Hungary (one week after Germany), after which there's the mid-season interval to give everyone a rest.
Three weeks until we visit Spain. It'll be interesting to see whether Red Bull can challenge for pole and the win there.
As always, do feel free to leave questions, queries, witticisms and general comments below.
Morris Dancer
Before the race the assumption was it would be dry, there'd be a fair bit of tyre degradation and the number of stops could be 2 or possibly 3.
Off the line Hamilton retained the lead, Rosberg left the handbrake on, and Massa made a flying start (again) only to collide with Alonso and drift back. The Spaniard, meanwhile, leapt into third and was very nearly into second. Rosberg went back to about sixth (behind Hulkenberg) after the first few corners.
Rosberg then began an inexorable climb through the field as his Silver Arrow flew past lesser cars. However, Hamilton spent the whole race cruising. He used less fuel than everyone else, his tyre wear was usually less, and he was never truly challenged. It was a rather lovely day for him.
Hulkenberg found himself in a Williams sandwich (behind Massa, ahead of Bottas). Massa had a very slow pit stop (the pit crew apparently had the wrong rear tyres) and was dead last when he finally left the pits, removing him from the equation. Hulkenberg and Bottas stayed close to one another for the whole race, but the German just squeaked across the line ahead of the Finn.
Ahead of them, the Red Bulls again had some interesting radio chatter. Vettel was asked to let Ricciardo past, asked what tyres the Aussie had and, upon learning they were the same compound but fresher due to an earlier pit stop, replied “Tough luck.” He later let Ricciardo past, after a message suggesting the Aussie was on 2 stops (implying Vettel was on 3, but if this was the case he converted to a 2 stop). Ricciardo ended up 4th and Vettel 5th.
Alonso had driven superbly to acquire second in the race but could not keep Rosberg behind him. In third, Ricciardo was narrowing the gap but not enough, and Alonso secured Ferrari's first podium of the season. It does seem the Prancing Horse has made a substantial performance gain over most others.
Raikkonen scraped 8th, a mile behind Alonso, Perez got 9th, and Kvyat continues to impress as he nabbed the final point.
However, the Silver Arrows remain in a league of their own. Of the 4 races to date they have 4 wins and 3 second places. It might be tedious, were it not for the absence of team orders. Things are looking very good for Hamilton, but Rosberg retains the lead, and if he can win in Monaco that could bode well for Abu Dhabi, where double points could yet determine the victor.
I've had a quick check, and so far in the three more or less fair races (not counting Australia where Hamilton had a reliability-related DNF) the result (between Hamilton and Rosberg) has been the same as 2013. Not only in the race, but qualifying as well (Rosberg got Bahrain pole in 2013), including Australia. That may well be worth keeping an eye on.
After four races the drivers are as follows:
Rosberg 79
Hamilton 75
Alonso 41
Hulkenberg 36
Vettel 33
And the teams:
Mercedes 154
Red Bull 57
Force India 54
Ferrari 52
So, it's pretty tight in the battle to be the third driver or the second team. Ferrari have taken a leap forward in Shanghai, and I think Red Bull have also improved a bit, although it's worth noting both Red Bulls went backwards in the race. With three out of four qualifying sessions so far in the wet they may not necessarily be indicative of how qualifying will go from now on.
More importantly, with the quartet of initial fly-aways over and a three week gap to the European portion of the calendar, teams will be rushing to get updates to their cars as often as possible. The pecking order will almost certainly change, although Mercedes would probably have to work hard to lose their immense advantage (until later in the season, and I'd be surprised if they lost it even then. Brawn only did in 2009 because the firm had been gutted in a bid to make ends meet when Toyota pulled out).
Races after that are very regular, a fortnight apart save for Hungary (one week after Germany), after which there's the mid-season interval to give everyone a rest.
Three weeks until we visit Spain. It'll be interesting to see whether Red Bull can challenge for pole and the win there.
As always, do feel free to leave questions, queries, witticisms and general comments below.
Morris Dancer
Seeing as how you've rushed out your post-race summary so quickly, I've re-posted my last comment on the previous thread as follows:
ReplyDeleteTwo absolutely brilliant calls by you Morris (i.e Alonso podium and Perez points finish) - all the more so for being so finely judged in both instances .... very well done indeed!
Going back to the awful BBC radio commentary, can anyone please explain why it is that since David Coulthard is constantly twittering online alongside the live radio commentary and is evidently there in person and is doubtless being well rewarded for such "efforts" by the BBC, that no one has had the good sense to suggest that he might turn his hand to actually commentating on the race - or is he simply too precious to lower himself from the elevated status of being a TV commentator?
I'm really, really disappointed in Raikkonen's continuing poor performances - I thought he'd give Alonsoa good run for his money but so far he doesn't seem to be in the same league. Ferrari must be disappointed with him too.
Mr. Putney, I'm afraid I didn't actually tip Perez for points. If you backed that, then huzzah, but I can't take any credit.
ReplyDeleteI believe they run TV commentary 'live', at the same time as the radio which is actually broadcast live. Normally James Allen and Allan McNish do radio commentary, but during practice I did notice it was two other chaps (maybe Tom Clarkson, pit lane reporter, and someone else). Hopefully that won't persist.
Raikkonen's a great driver, but he had issues with Lotus' steering for quite a while initially as well. That, coupled with the new regulations, probably explains his lacklustre performances so far (and, until now, the Ferrari's been a bit poor). I expect him to bounce back later in the season.
Cheers on the Alonso congratulations. It was a bit of a stab in the dark, but the Ferrari seemed a bit better and I knew wet qualifying would flatter Red Bull, whereas the race would be dry.