Brazil: post-race analysis 2018
A very exciting race
but, alas, not a profitable one. Magnussen came close, but as Massa
could tell him, coming close doesn’t get you what you want. Pit
stop timing rather shafted him, but I’ll discuss that more below.
At the sharp end things were very competitive, and it was a cracking
race.
Off the line, the
Ferraris stumbled, Bottas leaping ahead of Vettel and Verstappen
passing Raikkonen. Ricciardo, further back due to his grid penalty,
had a great start and by the time I thought to check on his position
he was all but on the back of the top group.
The Ferraris looked
oddly slow early on, despite Raikkonen rapidly retaking his place
from Verstappen. Hamilton was building a small lead and Bottas was a
moving roadblock, a position he’d hold for the entire race.
Vettel went wide after
locking a brake and Raikkonen passed him. The German was weirdly off
the pace today. A few laps into the race Verstappen was looking very
fast. He passed one, then another, and before you knew it he was
ahead of Hamilton.
The Briton pitted,
swapping supersofts for mediums (a tyre he appeared to dislike. Once
again, the Mercedes was chewing its rubber). Soon Hamilton, grumbles
aside, was going faster. Had Red Bull dropped the ball?
No. Verstappen was soon
extending his lead again. When he pitted, he emerged ahead of
Hamilton, behind Raikkonen (who had yet to pit, Vettel having already
done so).
Further back, Leclerc
was best of the rest ahead of Grosjean. Magnussen had closed up on
his team mate and was within DRS range when Haas brought Grosjean in
for fresh tyres. However, they then kept Magnussen out for perhaps a
dozen more laps. When he finally made his stop, he was 8s behind
Grosjean and would finish less than 2s behind him. Strategy call was
rough on the Dane.
If you’re wondering
about Ericsson, he had a terrible start, was involved in multiple
collisions (racing incidents rather than malicious on anyone’s
part) and ended up retiring the car. Speaking of which, the unusually
lacklustre Renault was not great today. Sainz and Hulkenberg had some
tasty on track action, only for Hulkenberg to have to box and retire.
Shame, as Brazil is perhaps his best circuit.
Back to Verstappen. He
had a comfortable lead after the pit stops and was only extending it.
Ricciardo was looking competitive, with the chance to pass the
Ferraris and Bottas, and maybe even challenge for the win. Hamilton
just didn’t have the pace to challenge for the win.
And then a very stupid
thing happened. Verstappen lapped Ocon. The Frenchman tried to unlap
himself in a manner not in accordance with the laws of physics.
Hitting the race leader, he damaged Verstappen’s floor and spun him
off the track. Although the Dutchman was able to continue he lost the
lead and he lost pace. He was furious, and rightly so. Unexpectedly
poor judgement from Ocon.
Hamilton had a lead of
5.5s or so, and Raikkonen was very near to Verstappen. The Dutchman
was able to stay ahead of the Finn and close on the Briton but his
previous immense pace had gone and he was unable to get into position
to try and effect a pass. Hamilton notches up yet another win, due to
sheer luck. Verstappen will be fuming in 2nd. By the end
of the race, Raikkonen was a few seconds adrift of one Red Bull but
barely ahead of Ricciardo, the Finn claiming the final podium spot.
Vettel was oddly slow
all day and ended up making a second stop, as did Bottas. Bottas
finished ahead, but the pair looked very much like number two drivers
on pace.
Leclerc had a lonely
but competent drive to finish 7th for Sauber, almost
certainly keeping them ahead of Toro Rosso in the Constructors’.
Grosjean and Magnussen were next, just a second between them.
Magnussen looked faster for most of the race, but was unable to close
the gap completely, and was hampered by the strategy call.
Perez nabbed the final
point for Force India. I think it’s unlikely they’ll be able to
pass McLaren now, which is a shame as they were looking good to do
that just a few races ago.
Toro Rosso finished
11th and 13th (Hartley ahead). Sainz was 12th.
After the race,
Verstappen found Ocon and have him a push. Handbags, though his
outrage is justified. They’ve been called to the stewards.
Anyway, the result
means Mercedes, yet again, wins the Constructors’ title.
McLaren 62
Force India 48
Sauber 42
Toro Rosso 33
Looks like McLaren’s
safe and Toro Rosso can’t reclaim 8th. However, Sauber,
with a good result, might even snatch 7th from Force
India. To get six points requires 7th at the flag, as
Leclerc achieved today. Not sure what happens if they tie. Had
Ericsson not suffered a dreadful race, it could’ve been much
closer.
Battle for 3rd:
Raikkonen 251
Bottas 237
Verstappen 234
Bottas has, frankly,
looked well off the pace at the last few races. Raikkonen and
Verstappen have both looked altogether more competitive. Fourteen
points is a lot to overhaul, though (and seventeen for Verstappen). This is likely Raikkonen’s. Be
interested to see if the bookies put up a market on this.
Best of the Rest:
Hulkenberg 69
Perez 58
Magnussen 55
Alonso 50
Given the stranglehold
the top 6 have, Hulkenberg is likely home and dry. Force India (and
Renault) have been a bit iffy lately, and Magnussen would need a
podium finish to beat the German.
The next, and last,
race of the season is in Abu Dhabi, in a fortnight. Apparently, it
was raining there this weekend (one practice session once nearly had
rain). One suspects there’ll be rather less on track action.
Morris Dancer
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