Italy: post-race analysis 2020
Well, that was a chaotic but entertaining race.
Hamilton drove off fine but Bottas had an atrocious start, getting passed by Sainz immediately, then Norris, then Perez, then Ricciardo. Phenomenally bad from the Finn.
But not as bad as things got for Ferrari. Vettel’s brakes failed, necessitating a DNF. Later, Magnussen car also stopped working and he was forced to pull over by the pits. The safety car emerged and the pit lane entry was closed but that didn’t stop Hamilton and Giovinazzi pitting. Both ended up with 10s stop and go penalties.
Just after Magnussen’s car stopped working, Leclerc lost control on the final corner and ploughed into a barrier. This ultimately brought out a red flag. Cars that had either pitted earlier (Gasly) or not at all (Stroll) benefited greatly, and Hamilton’s huge penalty of 30s or so ended up putting him at the back once the re-start, off the grid, occurred. Stroll buggered things up and Gasly inherited the lead, with Raikkonen and Giovinazzi (who had the same penalty to serve as Hamilton) ahead of the McLarens, who had been running in podium places earlier.
Sainz close up and up on Gasly and on the last lap was moments from striking distance but couldn’t quite make it stick. Gasly got his first victory, and whilst McLaren seemed gutted they’re the top scoring team this race weekend and this is very helpful for their tight midfield battle.
Stroll ended up 3rd. Good for Racing Point with a smart/lucky strategy call. Norris got 4th, keeping a lacklustre Bottas behind him and grabbing another bucketload of points for McLaren.
Bottas in 5th was the highest scoring Mercedes, narrowing the gap to Hamilton. The Briton ended up 7th which isn’t too bad considering the combination of unfortunate circumstances that transformed his race from typical cruise to victory to scrabbling through the field. Ricciardo in 6th may feel a little unfortunate too to have missed an opportunity in a crazy race but that’s hindsight. Ocon got 8th, so Renault double scored but have lost a lot of ground to McLaren here.
Kvyat got 9th and Perez 10th. Fantastic result for AlphaTauri, strong performance by McLaren, another podium for Racing Point, and disappointment for pretty much everyone else.
Especially Ferrari. Even had they avoided a double DNF their cars have looked slow all weekend, and a brake failure is a horrendous problem for a driver to suffer. Verstappen also had to retire for reliability reasons, and Albon (who had floor damage) could only manage 15th.
Drivers:
Hamilton 157
Verstappen 110
Bottas 107
Bad result for Hamilton, but it only delays the inevitable.
Constructors:
Mercedes 281
Red Bull 158
McLaren 98
Racing Point 82
Renault 71
Ferrari 61
AlphaTauri 47
Alfa Romeo 2
Haas 1
Williams 0
The very tight third to sixth has become stretched, and in every way that’s to the disadvantage of Ferrari, who now find AlphaTauri just 14 points behind them. Top two are still nailed on, mind.
We’re off to Tuscany next weekend. Bounce back for Ferrari, or more torment for the Tifosi?
Morris Dancer
Hamilton drove off fine but Bottas had an atrocious start, getting passed by Sainz immediately, then Norris, then Perez, then Ricciardo. Phenomenally bad from the Finn.
But not as bad as things got for Ferrari. Vettel’s brakes failed, necessitating a DNF. Later, Magnussen car also stopped working and he was forced to pull over by the pits. The safety car emerged and the pit lane entry was closed but that didn’t stop Hamilton and Giovinazzi pitting. Both ended up with 10s stop and go penalties.
Just after Magnussen’s car stopped working, Leclerc lost control on the final corner and ploughed into a barrier. This ultimately brought out a red flag. Cars that had either pitted earlier (Gasly) or not at all (Stroll) benefited greatly, and Hamilton’s huge penalty of 30s or so ended up putting him at the back once the re-start, off the grid, occurred. Stroll buggered things up and Gasly inherited the lead, with Raikkonen and Giovinazzi (who had the same penalty to serve as Hamilton) ahead of the McLarens, who had been running in podium places earlier.
Sainz close up and up on Gasly and on the last lap was moments from striking distance but couldn’t quite make it stick. Gasly got his first victory, and whilst McLaren seemed gutted they’re the top scoring team this race weekend and this is very helpful for their tight midfield battle.
Stroll ended up 3rd. Good for Racing Point with a smart/lucky strategy call. Norris got 4th, keeping a lacklustre Bottas behind him and grabbing another bucketload of points for McLaren.
Bottas in 5th was the highest scoring Mercedes, narrowing the gap to Hamilton. The Briton ended up 7th which isn’t too bad considering the combination of unfortunate circumstances that transformed his race from typical cruise to victory to scrabbling through the field. Ricciardo in 6th may feel a little unfortunate too to have missed an opportunity in a crazy race but that’s hindsight. Ocon got 8th, so Renault double scored but have lost a lot of ground to McLaren here.
Kvyat got 9th and Perez 10th. Fantastic result for AlphaTauri, strong performance by McLaren, another podium for Racing Point, and disappointment for pretty much everyone else.
Especially Ferrari. Even had they avoided a double DNF their cars have looked slow all weekend, and a brake failure is a horrendous problem for a driver to suffer. Verstappen also had to retire for reliability reasons, and Albon (who had floor damage) could only manage 15th.
Drivers:
Hamilton 157
Verstappen 110
Bottas 107
Bad result for Hamilton, but it only delays the inevitable.
Constructors:
Mercedes 281
Red Bull 158
McLaren 98
Racing Point 82
Renault 71
Ferrari 61
AlphaTauri 47
Alfa Romeo 2
Haas 1
Williams 0
The very tight third to sixth has become stretched, and in every way that’s to the disadvantage of Ferrari, who now find AlphaTauri just 14 points behind them. Top two are still nailed on, mind.
We’re off to Tuscany next weekend. Bounce back for Ferrari, or more torment for the Tifosi?
Morris Dancer
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