Yeah Hamilton said when the SC came out his heart sank. But he's a tenacious little sod. One of the commentators told Hammy that Rosberg had stated he was going to win the next one. He laughed quite genuinely and said 'bring it'.
Perhaps because Lewis is a racer. But teammates where having battles throughout the field. Which is good for so called 'taxi drivers'. Not every race will be a classic, some will be a snorefest but that's the same of many sports.
All the whiners have been put in their place. One of the worst tracks on the calender has just given us one of the best races in years. It really did have everything (except for a good result for McLaren ). I don't care at all that Mercedes are running away with it, because Hamilton and Rosberg are putting on a better show than any of the whiny teams (*cough* Red Bull and Ferrari - sore losers much?) ever have, and the midfield is looking as competitive as ever (albeit with some teams that are used to challenging for wins). Lauda said it best: "anyone who claims that this is boring is an idiot." Also, apparently Red Bull (and other Renault teams) have been modifying their fuel flow sensors so that they can be mounted in an alternative location (maybe to change the flow in a way that tricks the sensor into reading lower than it should be?), and have most likely been damaging it in the process (hence all the sensor failures on Renault cars). Surely it should already be illegal to do anything funny with homologated parts?
Well Stefano Domenicali has quit from Ferrari and we'll find out tomorrow if Red Bull win their appeal. Still can't see them winning, if the sensors aren't fit for purpose as Red Bull claim how come according to reports 96% of the faults are with Renault powered enginges or teams powered by total fuel. Surely if their is a problem with the sensor we would expect to see more than 4% of problems reported being with Mercedes and Ferrari powered cars.
Shame for Ricciardo really, but this is more important than one driver getting a podium. Red Bull have finally been put in their place!
I feel sorry for Ricciardo, but not for Red Bull. I'm not surprised that the decision went in favour of the FIA/Race stewards. Red Bull threw away some more or less certain points (even Horner admits they likely would have finished 5th) had they followed the stewards instructions. Who knows maybe this decision will come back to bite them at the end of the season in the WCC.
Ricciardo really deserves better, doesn't he? He comes into a team that revolves around Vettel, and despite getting screwed over repeatedly through no fault of his own, still has a massive grin on his face and still manages to make Vettel look average. Maybe he wouldn't have got the podium if Red Bull had played by the rules, but he's still doing an impressive job imo. Anyway, bring on this weekend! F1, BTCC and WEC marathon
It'll be interesting to read the full judgement of the court of appeaL. The fuel sensor may or may not have had a fault. But perhaps what really did Red Bull in was ignoring an instruction from the stewards. Most sports don't take teams/competitors ignoring the Ref kindly.
Well unsuprisingly it's yet another dominat Mercedes win, though I somehow suspect that Lewis was managing his time at the front and could easily have won it by an even bigger margin. But well done to Alonso for brining the Ferrari home third. Ricciardo once again beats his team mate who seems to have a problem following orders (at least initally). Sure we want to see them racing but as team orders are legal, and drivers are employees they arn't they obliged to obey them? You try disobeying your boss in your job you'll soon find yourself in trouble. He also didn't seem happy when Kobyashi unlapped himself and pulled away, just as Lewis did a few years back. Since when was unlapping yourself when you are faster against the rules? But a somewhat farcical end to the race with the chequered flag being shown too early.
Well it's time for Round 5, and the start of the European part of the season, and it look likes that the updates the teams have brought have more or less kept the situation the same at least in regards to Merceds being at least a second ahead of the rest of the field and who knows they might have more if they aren't piushing the enginge to 100%. The gap in the rest of the field might have narrowed a bit as the Williams of Bottas did well, even the McLaren on Hard tyres making it through to Q3. Vettel must be wondering he has to do, first the wiring loom has to replaced, on his new old chasis, then his team mate out qualifiyes him again and he has to take a 5 place grid drop for a change of gearbox. Still no points are awarded on Saturday.
So Rosberg ruins his own lap and forces Hamilton to back off in the process due to yellows. What a dickhead. It's just like when Schumi parked up at Rascasse...
It'll take a double Mercedes non finish for Williams to actually win, but yes, I would say a podium is a possibility. Lets see how that qualifying performance translates to race pace though. Bottas has been finishing strongly recently and has shown on a couple of occasions he can just about keep up with the Red Bulls. I think the most likely result is that the top 3 qualifying will be the top 3 finishers, possibly with a swap around at the very top.
Rosberg escapes a penalty for going straight on to stay in the lead, almost loses it on an outlap, has a terrible stop, has the same reliability issues as Hamilton, yet he's on course for a win while Hamilton is out of it? What a farce. I'm done with this race.
Agree, Roesberg should have got at least a 5 second penalty for gaining an advantage, but congrats to Ricciardo for his first win.