China: post-race analysis 2019
After very competitive
qualifying, the race was a little less close, certainly at the sharp
end. The Kvyat bet failed (as an aside, so did both the other ones I
was considering) but the weekend as a whole was green, which is nice.
Off the line, Bottas
was slow and passed by Hamilton, and Leclerc passed Vettel who
started perfectly well but had to slow to avoid ramming into Bottas.
Further back, Perez had a good start and Kvyat dropped a couple of
places, an error compounded by playing dodgems with both McLarens,
which helped none of their races.
The ensuing debris
brought out a brief virtual safety car whilst the track was cleared
by stewards.
Early on the top five
stayed as they were. Vettel appeared to be faster than Leclerc but
unable to pass. He nagged on the radio until the team, to the
Monegasque’s displeasure, ordered him to let the German through.
Leclerc duly, if grumpily, obeyed, yet it was a little odd that
Vettel was unable to pull away (he had looked faster) and spent much
of his time locking brakes and wounding tyres.
Through the first round
of pit stops, Verstappen went first, undercutting so successfully it
forced Ferrari to make a correct strategy call and bring in Vettel.
The German emerged just ahead and did well to keep the pesky Dutchman
behind, despite a valiant effort by Verstappen to get past. Leclerc
was sacrificed, but Ferrari’s decision was weird. They could’ve
either brought him in right away to have him immediately behind
Verstappen and hoping to take advantage of better pace (particularly
on the straight), or they could’ve left him out for a longer time
so he’d have the freshest rubber at the end when everyone else’s
tyres were chewed up.
Instead they kept him
out a few laps more, enough to cost him time without gaining any sort
of real advantage whatsoever. Leclerc emerged from the pit lane
behind Verstappen.
At the front, Hamilton
suffered a setback when he struggled to complete the Times’
crossword, but otherwise his race was not interrupted by any sort of
inconvenience.
Further back,
reliability woe for Renault continued as Hulkenberg retired (my
prediction, on PB, that Renault would either score or DNF proved
accurate). Kvyat also retired, but they were the only two chaps to
drop out.
Raikkonen showed that
he still had speed, spending the latter quarter of the race passing
cars and increasing his points tally, but was unable to get past
Perez (who maintains his skill at looking after tyres when others are
getting theirs torn to bits). Albon had a cracking race, starting
from the pit lane and ending up 10th, keeping Grosjean
behind him (it was another race to forget for Haas, with neither car
scoring). Ahead of them Ricciardo was best of the rest, a consolation
for Renault, whilst Gasly has a lonely race in No Man’s Land,
comfortably 6th, neither troubling others nor being
troubled in turn.
Back to the ‘sharp’
end: Hamilton cruised to victory. Bottas was an easy 2nd.
The pair had safety first second pit stops (stacked and handled very
well by the Mercedes pit crew) in reaction to Verstappen and Ferrari
having second stops beforehand. The second stops didn’t alter
anything, but Leclerc was left out too long (again) which meant he
didn’t have enough time to try and catch up to the back of
Verstappen.
I believe Gasly got the
fastest lap, after a late pit stop to bolt on soft tyres and have a
crack at it. Sensible from Red Bull and what Ferrari should’ve done
for Leclerc in Australia after they ordered him not to pass Vettel.
So, how do things stack
up after a reasonable but not stellar race?
Hamilton 68
Bottas 62
Verstappen 39
Vettel 37
Leclerc 36
Gasly 13
Raikkonen 12
Pretty much a two horse
race at this stage, with three 1-2 finishes for Mercedes. The next
three are tightly clustered, but Gasly’s on about a third of the
points. He had a better race in China but really needs to pick up the
pace. He’s a solitary point ahead of Raikkonen. Ferrari were faster
than Red Bull today but the team failed on strategy to the advantage
of Verstappen. Mercedes were simply quicker than their rivals and
didn’t suffer the misfortune that attended Leclerc in Bahrain.
Constructors’:
Mercedes 130
Ferrari 73
Red Bull 52
Renault 12
Alfa Romeo 12
Haas 8
McLaren 8
Racing Point 7
Toro Rosso 4
Williams 0
Got to say that whilst
pace is being squandered by reliability weakness at Haas, McLaren,
and Renault (Haas also seeming to eat its tyres), I’m impressed by
the reliability and speed of Alfa Romeo. Raikkonen’s doing good
work for the team, but I don’t expect them to retain their
position. Other cars are faster, if more fragile. Hulkenberg’s
retirement today improved Renault’s DNF rate from 75% after two
races to just 67% after three.
Slightly up and down
weekend. Very exciting, and profitable, qualifying, following by a
less engaging race that included a red bet. Albon showed the car did
have the pace for points, but Kvyat’s collisions ensured the tip
failed to come off.
The next race is in a
fortnight, when we visit comedy crash-fest Azerbaijan.
Morris Dancer
Comments
Post a Comment