Azerbaijan: post-race analysis 2017
By weird coincidence,
I’d decided to take notes during the race (I’ve only done this
once before, for an early start when I thought I’d be too sleepy to
remember anything not written down). This proved handy, given how
chaotic the race was. Shockingly, both McLarens finished, and Alonso
got the team’s first points. Good for them, but my bet was red.
On the first lap,
Hamilton retained the lead, Bottas and Raikkonen made contact. This
shoved the Ferrari a few places back and give Bottas a puncture on
the second longest lap of the year (he was a lap down by the time he
pitted for fresh rubber). Vettel was in 2nd, Perez in 3rd.
Sainz also managed to spin on the first lap (he blamed his team mate,
returning from an escape road, but it was simply a matter of the
Spaniard cocking up).
On lap 6, Ricciardo
pitted to clear debris and have his front wing checked, Vandoorne
also pitted and shifted from the soft (he was one of very few to
start on the slower tyre) for supersoft.
Palmer retired on lap 9
when reliability failed him, and a lap later the same happened to
Kvyat (the Briton managed to return to the pits, the Russian didn’t).
Verstappen had done
great work passing Perez for 3rd, but it was all for
nought when the Dutchman’s engine stopped working, much to his
understandable consternation.
A safety car emerged on
lap 12, ostensibly to recover Kvyat’s car, though Coulthard
[commentating] was of the opinion it was for show, to bunch up the
field and make things exciting. Practically everybody pitted,
including Bottas and Ricciardo for a second time each, with Stroll
and Hulkenberg coming in a lap later (perhaps to avoid the rush).
The safety car period
seemed slow and endless, and it finally came in on lap 16. Drivers
had struggled to get heat into their tyres, and on lap 17 the safety
car emerged again (due to debris from Raikkonen’s car being on
track), taking the field through the pit lane. Hamilton, rightly,
questioned the use of a full safety car, which is tedious and slow,
over a virtual one.
On lap 19 it was
announced the safety car would come in. Hamilton was slower than
expected in a corner and Vettel ran into the back of him (although
the Briton had maintained a slow pace he had not slammed the brakes
on). This made the German angry, he pulled up alongside,
gesticulated, and (at very slow speed) knocked tyres with Hamilton.
On lap 20, the Force
Indias, who were running 3rd and 4th, decided
to collide in an idiotic manoeuvre. This let Massa pass for 3rd,
Stroll in 4th and Raikkonen got a puncture from debris. [I
do hope you’re keeping up. We aren’t halfway through yet].
The same lap, the
safety car emerged, again. Ocon pitted, and Perez retired. Raikkonen
also retired and Ricciardo was up to 5th.
Around lap 22/23 the
red flag came out due to ‘debris everywhere’ as Alonso put it.
The red flag order was: Ham Vet Mas Str Ric Hulk Mag Alo Sai Gro Eri
Vand Bott Ocon Wehr.
Under the red flag,
they tried to mend Perez’s and Raikkonen’s cars though each man
was technically two laps down (this would be reduced to one by the
safety car restart, as they’d be allowed to scamper off ahead, as
backmarkers).
Racing resumed on lap
25. Ricciardo passed both Williams to rise from 5th to
3rd, Massa made the opposite journey, and Stroll held 4th.
It soon became apparent Massa had a serious car problem, he slid down
the order then retired. On the same lap, Hulkenberg hit the wall and
retired.
Then a stroke of
misfortune bedevilled Hamilton. His headrest came loose. He tried
shoving it back into place but as a safety issue the team was forced
to pit him on lap 31. But, on the very same lap, Vettel was told he
would have to take a 10s stop and go penalty for dangerous driving
(when he hit Hamilton). The time to fix Hamilton’s headrest was
just under 10s, and he had a gap, previous to pitting, of just a few
seconds. However, the Briton emerged from the pits into traffic
whilst Vettel was running in free air.
Lap 33, Vettel pitted,
coming out right ahead of Hamilton and behind Bottas, who had risen
to 6th. At this stage, Ricciardo, Stroll and Magnussen
were at the front.
Raikkonen and Perez
were both handed drive-through penalties for their cars being mended
in an inappropriate part of the pit lane.
Magnussen slid down the
order, being passed by Ocon, Bottas, then Vettel and Hamilton. Bottas
then passed Ocon and went off in pursuit of 2nd (Stroll).
On lap 47 there was an interesting radio transmission from Hamilton.
He asked if Bottas, were he not fighting anyone, to slow down to back
Vettel up a bit. The team replied they wanted Bottas to catch Stroll
and to deny Vettel DRS.
On lap 48 Raikkonen
retired (again), Perez having done likewise.
On the final lap (51),
Bottas passed Stroll at the line, nabbing 2nd by
two-tenths. Ricciardo got the win, and Vettel finished 4th,
two-tenths ahead of Hamilton.
Ocon ended up 6th.
But for their needless crash, Force India would’ve been 1 and 2. A
damned shame that a foolish collision, that was wholly unnecessary,
ruined what should’ve been a famous victory.
Magnussen was 7th,
a good result for Haas (Grosjean was 13th, last of those
still running at the flag, but had some sort of brake problems).
Sainz was next, and
then Alonso, claiming McLaren’s first couple of points of the year.
Mildly annoyed he made my bet red by actually finishing a race for
only the second time this year, but good to see him score. Wehrlein
got the final point, with Ericsson and Vandoorne finishing outside
the points.
So, a hectic race
indeed. Vettel finished ahead of Hamilton but only just, extending
his title lead by a couple of points (with an old engine to boot). On
the other hand, Mercedes extended their title lead over Ferrari by
many points.
The Baku circuit is not
stellar, but it’s also not wholly responsible for the farce of the
multiple safety car starts. The problems are that Pirelli brought
compounds that were too hard, and were forbidden from changing them
because the deadline had passed. This was coupled with the fact the
safety car couldn’t drive fast enough for the drivers to get
sufficient heat into the tyres.
There’s also much
discussion about Vettel and whether the 10s stop and go penalty was
too lenient. The only comparable incident I can recall was during
Belgian practice a few years ago when Maldonado deliberately
side-swiped Hamilton (with far more contact/damage than the
tyre-banging Vettel did). Maldonado received, so far as I recall, no
penalty at all.
Vettel was clearly in
the wrong. Adding another penalty now, given one has already been
handed out, would be a huge call. I’m not sure it’ll happen.
Drivers’:
Vettel 153
Hamilton 139
A 14 point gap is by no
means insurmountable. It would be level if Hamilton wins the next two
races and Vettel is second in both. But this is clearly an
opportunity missed for Mercedes, given Vettel’s old engine and the
self-inflicted penalty. Said it before, but F1 is prone to more
twists of fate than other sports, and Hamilton’s headrest being
pulled loose by a gremlin highlights that perfectly.
Constructors’:
Mercedes 250
Ferrari 226
The gap has increased
to Mercedes’ advantage, but should’ve done by a lot more. With
slightly weaker reliability for Ferrari, I do think the Silver Arrows stand a good chance of
winning this.
An aside, Perez was 201
to win this race. And had he and Ocon not come together, he would’ve
probably won, or at least come second.
A weekend of
ill-judgement from me, saved by the lucky red flag in qualifying from
being totally awful. The race was hectic, though partly that was due
to a flaw in the way F1 works, regarding tyre temperatures, and
moments were farcical.
The next race is
Austria, in a fortnight. One imagines it will be rather more sedate.
Morris Dancer
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