Germany: post-race analysis 2020
An interesting race, mildly profitable, and I’ll take that.
Off the line Bottas and Verstappen both started slowly, unsure if that was due to the side of the track or a coincidence. Bottas lost a place to Hamilton but fought back to reclaim it, and Verstappen skilfully fended off Leclerc to retain his position.
Early on it was largely as expected, formation flying from the top three as they opened a gap to the rest of the field. Hulkenberg and Norris had both made good starts with Ocon falling further back.
The top three stayed nice and close together until Bottas’ tyres started going off. Then he locked up and Hamilton passed him and he pitted early. Almost as soon as he emerged from the pit lane he developed a massive power loss and was forced to box and retire. Not great, and not his fault.
Raikkonen and Russell were in close proximity, and then too close for comfort with the Finn locking up and colliding with the Briton. This caused a puncture and suspension damage, necessitated a slow return to the pits and Russell eventually had to retire his track by the wayside, prompting a VSC appearance.
This was just the moment for Hamilton and Verstappen to pit cheaply, after which the VSC almost immediately ended.
Off the line Bottas and Verstappen both started slowly, unsure if that was due to the side of the track or a coincidence. Bottas lost a place to Hamilton but fought back to reclaim it, and Verstappen skilfully fended off Leclerc to retain his position.
Early on it was largely as expected, formation flying from the top three as they opened a gap to the rest of the field. Hulkenberg and Norris had both made good starts with Ocon falling further back.
The top three stayed nice and close together until Bottas’ tyres started going off. Then he locked up and Hamilton passed him and he pitted early. Almost as soon as he emerged from the pit lane he developed a massive power loss and was forced to box and retire. Not great, and not his fault.
Raikkonen and Russell were in close proximity, and then too close for comfort with the Finn locking up and colliding with the Briton. This caused a puncture and suspension damage, necessitated a slow return to the pits and Russell eventually had to retire his track by the wayside, prompting a VSC appearance.
This was just the moment for Hamilton and Verstappen to pit cheaply, after which the VSC almost immediately ended.
Norris, at this stage, was looking tasty for a podium with his prime competition coming from Perez, a couple of seconds back, and Ricciardo, further down the field but also having pitted, unlike the other two drivers.
Unfortunately, fate had other ideas and Norris lost a lot of power (sounded like ERS went away), enabling Perez to cruise up and pass him without trouble. Norris pitted, came back out, tried to keep running, but was forced to retire, akin to Russell, by the side of the track. Slightly surprisingly this then brought out the full safety car.
This was great for Ricciardo who, at this stage, was 10s ahead of Perez but with 15 laps to go and much older tyres. Hamilton and Verstappen bitched about how slow the safety car was, and whilst Verstappen struggled to hold off Ricciardo for the first few corners he managed to retain 2nd, with Hamilton easing to victory. The Mercedes was simply too fast, and I’d expected the Red Bull to be closer.
Can’t complain too much. One more win and my bet/tip from a couple of years ago at 9 comes in.
Ricciardo got 3rd, and much deserved too. Drove flawlessly. Perez also put in a strong performance for 4th at a team that’s dispensing with his services. Shame, he’s a good driver.
Sainz had been a little slower than Norris all weekend, not liking the new McLaren parts, but he was nevertheless steady and got 5th. Gasly was 6th, a good recovery after strategy putting him back, with Leclerc 7th, a good result given his car. I read on Twitter that in the last seven races Hulkenberg has scored more points than Vettel, which is astounding.
Speaking of Hulk, he did very well to get 8th, so those who backed him ended up in profit. Did take a few retirements, but my Verstappen bet was also at least partly down to luck, and the Hulkenberg bet paid off at a much better rate. Grosjean got his hands on some points for the first time this year, and Giovinazzi nabbed 10th place.
Ocon and Albon also failed to finish due to reliability problems.
The title is effectively Hamilton’s now, unless misfortune prevents him competing for the rest of the season. Good races likely await but a title contest is not on the horizon.
The next race is in a fortnight, in Portugal. No idea what to expect, excepting hotter temperatures.
Morris Dancer
Unfortunately, fate had other ideas and Norris lost a lot of power (sounded like ERS went away), enabling Perez to cruise up and pass him without trouble. Norris pitted, came back out, tried to keep running, but was forced to retire, akin to Russell, by the side of the track. Slightly surprisingly this then brought out the full safety car.
This was great for Ricciardo who, at this stage, was 10s ahead of Perez but with 15 laps to go and much older tyres. Hamilton and Verstappen bitched about how slow the safety car was, and whilst Verstappen struggled to hold off Ricciardo for the first few corners he managed to retain 2nd, with Hamilton easing to victory. The Mercedes was simply too fast, and I’d expected the Red Bull to be closer.
Can’t complain too much. One more win and my bet/tip from a couple of years ago at 9 comes in.
Ricciardo got 3rd, and much deserved too. Drove flawlessly. Perez also put in a strong performance for 4th at a team that’s dispensing with his services. Shame, he’s a good driver.
Sainz had been a little slower than Norris all weekend, not liking the new McLaren parts, but he was nevertheless steady and got 5th. Gasly was 6th, a good recovery after strategy putting him back, with Leclerc 7th, a good result given his car. I read on Twitter that in the last seven races Hulkenberg has scored more points than Vettel, which is astounding.
Speaking of Hulk, he did very well to get 8th, so those who backed him ended up in profit. Did take a few retirements, but my Verstappen bet was also at least partly down to luck, and the Hulkenberg bet paid off at a much better rate. Grosjean got his hands on some points for the first time this year, and Giovinazzi nabbed 10th place.
Ocon and Albon also failed to finish due to reliability problems.
The title is effectively Hamilton’s now, unless misfortune prevents him competing for the rest of the season. Good races likely await but a title contest is not on the horizon.
The next race is in a fortnight, in Portugal. No idea what to expect, excepting hotter temperatures.
Morris Dancer
Comments
Post a Comment