Spain: post-race analysis

It seems this year must be the most frustrating so far. The Lotus double score bet didn’t come off. Both drivers and the car were performing well enough. Maldonado lost 30s in a prolonged pit stop after suffering some damage (odd damage) to his rear wing, and later had to retire. On pace, he and Grosjean were dead certs (before the pit stop) to get into the points. Whilst it doesn’t feel like a misjudgement, it’s another red result, which is a little disappointing.

Off the line, Hamilton had a slightly tardy get away, enabling Vettel to pass him into the first corner. The Briton shifted to a three stop strategy, and whilst this eventually enabled him to claim a comfortable 2nd, it also meant that Rosberg cruised to his first victory of the season. Vettel was relatively untroubled in 3rd, albeit grumpy on the radio.

Ferrari didn’t have the pace for the win but Vettel did a good job of annoying Hamilton until the team screwed up his strategy (that said, I think he would’ve been 3rd anyway). What was worse was getting Raikkonen’s wrong, which saw him stuck behind Bottas (not unlike Bahrain, when Vettel was stuck behind the younger Finn).

Massa recovered well from a rubbish qualifying to get 6th.

Ricciardo ended up 7th and Kvyat nabbed the final point. Not too bad, but given where Red Bull were, it’s not great.

Grosjean got a comfortable 8th. Maldonado had been faster than him and driving well, but suffered rear wing damage, not sure how, and eventually had to retire (again, not sure why). He had a very long pit stop when the crew cleared away a large, dangling piece of carbon fibre which cost him 30s and may have kept him out of the points, but it wasn’t clear. Pretty disappointing for the team as they easily had the pace for a double points finish.

Right from the off it was clear Toro Rosso had buggered up their aerodynamic settings. They had too much drag, which made the car quick over one lap but a sitting duck on a long straight with an over-long DRS zone. They spent the whole race gradually drifting down the field due to the set-up mistake. A shame, but there we are. Sainz got 9th and Verstappen was out of the points in 11th.

Alonso was out of the points but driving well when his brakes failed. Thankfully, the McLaren front jack man had the agility and reflexes of a serval when the Spaniard came in to retire, and no-one was harmed when he overshot his pit box by some way. He was going a lot better than Button, who finished but had problems with the car and was a lowly 16th.

Grosjean also overran his pit box, and unfortunately his front jack man did take some pain. I don’t think it’s serious (he was smiling ruefully on the camera as he had some ice over his delicates) but even so, I hope Grosjean apologises after the race.

After strong performances in other races, the Saubers were a bit lacklustre with both drivers finishing out of the points and never threatening to do otherwise. That said, they were a bit rubbish at one earlier circuit (I forget which), so this may be a flash in the pan, or it could be the first sign they’re being out-developed.

Force India had minimal upgrades, unlike most teams, and it showed, with Perez 13th and Hulkenberg 15th. After Austria they should get the B-spec car, and hopefully be able to get points regularly.

Both Manor Marussias finished, Stevens once again ahead of Merhi.

The race was not a classic, although there was a fair bit of overtaking and other shenanigans in the midfield and lower down the order. The aerodynamics still make it tricky to follow cars too closely.

Bit frustrated by the Lotus result. Every race this year has been red. I was right about the pace being there. I’m not sure, at the time of writing, why precisely Maldonado retired.

Drivers’ title:
Hamilton 111
Rosberg 91
Vettel 80

Vettel’s not out of it, but with the Mercedes still the class of the field he’ll need the team to out-develop Mercedes. Hamilton remains in a strong position. I believe he had the pace today but the bad start and lengthy stint stuck behind Vettel made victory impossible. Good day for Rosberg, but everything’s still looking rosy for Hamilton.

Hamilton’s got to win 11 of the remaining 14 races to beat the season record. I think that’s possible but by no means certain.

Next up: Monaco. Great circuit for radio.


Morris Dancer

Comments

  1. Good afternoon from Barcelona, Mr Dancer!

    Ironically for the first (and probably only) GP that I'll go to this year I didn't bet on anything significant. I just went for obvious targets. The problem with betting this is that a single bad result puts you into the red. Today, for example, only Massa saved my Maldonado bet in particular and my book in general. All bets with Hills as usual..

    All of these were 1 pointers:
    Points Finish – Pastor Maldonado @ 5/4 LOSE
    Top 6 Finish – Sebastian Vettel @ 1/8 WIN
    Top 6 Finish – Kimi Raikkonen @ 4/11 WIN
    Top 6 Finish – Felipe Massa @ EVS WIN
    Top 6 Finish – Valtteri Bottas @ 1/3 WIN

    which gave me 17% up on what I thought were reasonable sized stakes. However this afternoon the winnings only just covered one unexceptional bottle of rioja. That's Barca prices for you. Still, beats paying for it!

    Hasta luego

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hasta luego?

    Congrats, Mr. M. Must admit to being slightly disconsolate so far with this season. Still, hopefully I'll get some 50/50s going my way soon.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hasta luego is basically Spanish for "see you later" :)

    ReplyDelete

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