UK: post-race analysis 2019
A fantastic race for
the eyes and a frustrating one for the wallet. One bet straight
failed, the other was likely to have come off but for misfortune
(reminded me a bit of Button bringing out a pointless Monaco safety
car when he was sitting in for Alonso and I’d backed no safety car
at 8).
Off the line it was
close at the front, and Vettel passed Gasly. Hamilton was super close
but couldn’t pass until after the first lap, but Bottas immediately
retook the place. It was great on-track action and was merely the
appetiser.
Verstappen appeared
faster than Leclerc but couldn’t pass the Monegasque despite the
pair being very close to one another indeed. Come the first pit
stops, the Dutchman entered behind his rival, emerged ahead, found
the tyres lacking grip, made a small mistake, and was immediately
past by Leclerc.
Bottas pitted first of
the Mercedes, coming in for a second set of medium tyres. Hamilton
and Vettel stayed out. And were soon to reap the rewards.
Giovinazzi spun, and
found himself marooned in a gravel trap. Cue the safety car (perhaps
unnecessarily).
Hamilton and Vettel
pitted, for hard tyres. The order was notionally Ham-Bot-Vet, but
Bottas would have to box again because he’d run two sets of medium
tyres. Verstappen pitted immediately, Leclerc did so a lap later, and
found himself behind both Red Bulls, and somewhat confounded and
annoyed (understandably, he’d driven extremely well all race).
Further back, Sainz was
a beneficiary and Norris suffered, the pair 7th and 8th
at this stage, but Norris needing another stop, with older tyres than
his team mate. Ricciardo was some way down the order as well.
It was plain sailing
for Hamilton at the restart. He was ahead of his team mate, with
longer lasting tyres, and Bottas was guaranteed to stop again.
Further back, Verstappen was let past by Gasly, and caught Vettel,
though it took him a while.
The Dutchman managed to
pass the German, only for Vettel to attempt to occupy the same
co-ordinates in time and space as Verstappen. This involved a
collision, with Vettel pathetically attempted to blame on the other
driver (Vettel ran into the back of Verstappen due to locking up his
brakes). Annoyingly, Verstappen was likely, though not certain, to
have been ahead of Bottas after the Finn’s necessary stop, meaning
the each way aspect of the bet could well have come off.
Vettel’s car was more
damaged than Verstappen’s, and the Red Bull chap did well not to
get trapped in the gravel. However, this gave Bottas some handy
breathing space and promoted Leclerc (who had passed Gasly, the
Frenchman having easily his best race of the season to date) to the
final podium spot.
Further back, Ricciardo
had hauled himself up from the nether pointless regions and was
hassling the posterior of Sainz. For lap after lap the Spaniard
fended off the Aussie’s attempts to get past him, an important
battle as McLaren and Renault are in a tight tussle for best of the
rest. Sainz did very well and managed to retain 6th
(because Vettel was out of the points). Behind them, old man
Raikkonen got 8th, Kvyat nabbed 9th, not bad
considering he didn’t even escape Q1, and Hulkenberg, who was
running a bit slowly after a spot of contact, got the final point.
As well as Giovinazzi,
both Haas cars (who had some on-track contact between themselves) had
to box and retire. It’s a bloody odd car. Occasionally best of the
rest, often tyre-munching, and sometimes just plain slow.
Hamilton also got the
fastest lap, just to add some salt to Bottas’ porridge.
The Briton racked up
yet another win. Unlikely he’ll beat Schumacher’s record this
year, but I think in 2020 it’s highly probable.
Bit unlucky for Bottas.
He raced very well to retake the lead and keep Hamilton behind him,
and got buggered by the timing of the safety car. That said, had
Vettel not forgotten he wasn’t playing dodgems then the Finn
might’ve had to settle for 3rd behind Verstappen.
Fantastic driving from
Verstappen and Leclerc, and strong performances from Sainz and
Ricciardo too. Verstappen ended up 5th behind Gasly.
As an aside, that
Giovinazzi retirement is Alfa Romeo’s first DNF of the year.
Drivers:
Hamilton 223
Bottas 184
Verstappen 136
Vettel 123
Leclerc 120
Nice and competitive
for third spot. But this title seems very much to be Hamilton’s.
Bottas might have narrowed the gap but for the safety car.
Constructors:
Mercedes 407
Ferrari 243
Red Bull 191
McLaren 60
Renault 39
Alfa Romeo 26
Toro Rosso 19
Racing Point 19
Haas 16
Williams 0
I’d be surprised if
the top three change, although it’s possible Red Bull will end up
passing Ferrari. McLaren very slightly extend their advantage over
Renault, the pair pulling away from the midfield pack. Likewise, Alfa
has once again improved its position, Raikkonen doing sterling work.
Racing Point and Haas are pretty much treading water at this point.
The next race is
Germany, in a fortnight.
Morris Dancer
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