Austria: post-race analysis
Well,
not sure it necessarily qualified as entertaining or profitable.
Sadly,
my bet didn't come off, so the race was red. I got certain
predictions right (hard to overtake, Williams genuinely competitive)
but the team was strategically inept, in a rather silly, simple way.
If they'd been wiser then a win was perhaps possible, and a better
overall result likely. Still very good for Williams, but it could
easily have been better. That said, I don't think my bet would've
come off even if they'd been smarter.
Off
the line Hamilton got a flyer and Rosberg passed Bottas, only to be
repassed on the very same lap by the Finn.
From
then on the top four had a private tussle. Williams were slow
reacting to Mercedes' initial pit stops, ending up
Rosberg-Bottas-Hamilton-Massa, and then repeated the inexplicable
mistake at the second stops, resulting in
Rosberg-Hamilton-Bottas-Massa, which was the end result. I think the
only non-pit stop pass between them was Bottas on Rosberg on lap 1.
Through
the race Alonso and Magnussen lost a place (to Hamilton) but
basically trundled round, holding station (Perez eventually passed
the Dane). Late on the Spaniard had a brief charge at Massa but it
wasn't enough to trouble the Brazilian.
Vettel
lost power, regained it (being at that stage a lap down) and
eventually had to retire the car after duelling with Gutierrez for
last place. He's had rotten luck this year, and it continues
unabated.
Perez
recovered very well from a 16th place start to finish 6th,
ahead of Magnussen and behind Alonso. His team mate (who started 10th
after having his team discounted in Q3 for overrunning the white
lines) could only manage 9th, which is quite
disappointing.
Ricciardo
went backwards to 8th, making the Red Bull Ring one of the
worst results (perhaps the worst) for the team this year.
Raikkonen got 10th, as he continues to struggle with his
prancing horse.
Williams
should not be happy with the result. Whilst Mercedes were faster the
difference was small and the Williams was faster on the straights (no
Williams was passed by a Mercedes, I believe, on track). With smarter
strategy there were more points for the taking. That said, they can
be happy that their car was clearly best of the rest and the first to
truly take the fight to the Mercedes this year.
Alonso
and Perez both punched above their weight, as did Magnussen. Force
India may be a little displeased that Hulkenberg didn't do better,
but Ferrari and McLaren will probably be glad of the points.
Both
Mercedes appeared to have brake issues, but it's difficult to say how
much that slowed them. Hamilton never really had a run at Rosberg.
Here's
how the Constructors line up:
Mercedes
301
Red
Bull 143
Ferrari
98
Force
India 87
Williams
85
McLaren
72
There's
potential for great change, excepting Mercedes. Red Bull will
probably retain second, but that's not certain. I think Ferrari could
be overhauled by both Force India and Williams. McLaren won't drop
any further back (Toro Rosso are only on 12) but it's hard to see
them making much headway either. This is a golden opportunity for
Force India and Williams to get a great finish and, with it, a
substantial bonus in prize money.
Rosberg
now has a 29 point lead over Hamilton. Still a long way to go, but
this is exactly what Hamilton didn't need. Rosberg got the win, and
extended his lead. If Hamilton can chip away at it before the
mid-season interval between Hungary and Belgium he'll be fairly
happy. But if Rosberg can keep it steady or increase it a little the
pressure may tell on Hamilton.
Morris
Dancer
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