Abu Dhabi: post-race analysis 2017
Well, that wasn’t
exactly a rival to Canada 2011. The race was perhaps the most tedious
of the season and the only retirement due to reliability was
Ricciardo (he had been running in a green position). One is not
delighted. There are a few interesting snippets to discuss, though.
Off the line it was
formation flying at the sharp end but Hulkenberg had a stinker,
getting passed by both Force Indias. He got Ocon at the first corner
(the Frenchman had nowhere to go, Hulkenberg beside him and Perez
ahead) and later passed Perez off-track.
The Mexican rightly
complained and the German got a slap on the wrist, a mere 5s time
penalty. I rate Hulkenberg highly, but he was clearly in the wrong in
this instance, and the penalty was weak.
The Mercedes were in a
league of their own, Hamilton following his team mate closely but
unable to effect a pass. Further back, Ricciardo was close behind
Vettel, and Verstappen was close behind Raikkonen (the Red Bull
looked a shade faster in race trim but is slower on the straights and
it’s hard to pass at Yas Marina).
Alonso was chasing
Massa to get into the tail end of the points. It was a race-long
tussle but once the Spaniard managed to get ahead and stay there he
pulled away with little effort.
Sainz suffered great
misfortune. He was likely to get small points until his team let him
go from the pits without attaching his front left tyre. Skilful
driving kept him out of the tunnel wall, but he had to retire.
Hulkenberg, meanwhile,
escaped the pits ahead of both Force Indias despite the penalty. When
Ricciardo’s hydraulics broke and he was forced to retire, the
German rose to 6th, very tasty for the Renault team in a
tight battle.
In the latter stages
Verstappen was very close to Raikkonen but that battle was ruined by
Magnussen, once again, being a dick. He held up Verstappen
idiotically, which meant Raikkonen got a couple of seconds of of
ease.
For a few laps Hamilton
was breathing right down Bottas’ neck but was unable to get close
enough and the Finn held on for another win. The pair were miles
faster than their rivals, which is a nice way for them to end the
season.
An indication of the
excitement of the race can be found in that the top nine on the grid
(excepting Ricciardo, who retired) finished in that order.
Vettel finished the
podium places with Raikkonen and Verstappen following. Hulkenberg’s
6th meant Renault passed Toro Rosso in the Constructors’,
and Perez and Ocon delivered yet another double points finish for
Force India. Alonso and Massa got the final points.
Another double title
year for Mercedes, though Ferrari did push them close. The real
difference was a small number of gremlins afflicting the Prancing
Horse and Vettel’s Singapore wipeout. I hope it’s at least as
close next year. With engine numbers going down to three, reliability
will be even more important.
Constructors’ (from
fifth):
Williams 83
Renault 57
Toro Rosso 53
Haas 47
Mclaren 30
Sauber 5
A strong result for
Williams but they need Stroll to be less hit-and-miss next year.
Massa’s retiring but he was the faster man and really helped to
secure them a good result. Renault did well to overhaul Toro Rosso,
and have a great driver lineup for 2018. Probably too soon for a
title push, but 2019 onwards may be another story.
Feels like it’s been
an unlucky year. Today’s Ricciardo bet failed due to bad luck, not
bad judgement, but these things do happen. Anyway, we’ll have to
see how 2018 goes.
One thing I’m working
on currently is a new webcomic, so if you enjoy comedic daftness
please do vote in the Twitter poll:
I may well do a
post-season review in the coming days, replete with lovely graphs.
Morris Dancer
Comments
Post a Comment