Daniel Ricciardo took his first victory of the season after holding off team-mate Max Verstappen for a Red Bull one two.
Hamilton’s Race
Lewis Hamilton had a good race and he could have taken the victory which he needed to do this weekend. Hamilton was very confirble during that race in Sepang until the failure of the engine which was shocking for Hamilton as he had many this season. Hamilton has been unlucky this season but why did this new engine fail that has to be a concern of Mercedes.
Hamilton has confirmed it was one of the three ‘new’ engines he had secured via multiple grid penalties in Belgium that had let go. “Something just doesn’t feel right. It was a brand new engine, I’d done just one race with it.
“I just can’t believe that there’s eight Mercedes cars, and only my engines are the ones that have been going this year. Something just doesn’t feel right, but there’s nothing I can do about it.
“There’s not really much to do. The guys did a fantastic job this weekend, and we did everything we could; I did everything I could.”
The engine failure I think will cost him the world title he needed a good result and Rosberg I feel has luck on his side.
Ricciardo wins again
Daniel Ricciardo was robbed earlier this season many feel after Monaco Grand Prix where many felt he should of taken victory. Ricciardo drove well and he had help because of the traffic his team-mate Max Verstappen was caught in traffic.
We know that Ricciardo can drive well and so can Verstappen. Ricciardo said earlier this week that he has honed in his race craft by watching Verstappen who has impressed some with his racing. Ricciardo is a great driver and he has shown that again.
Ricciardo “I realise what’s happened but a lot went down in the last two hours so it’s a lot to take in. It’s been an interesting two years since my last victory so it feels awesome for sure, I’m very grateful for it. The start was interesting. I didn’t get a great launch off the line.”
Canada 2014 the first win for the ‘honey bagder’ is where we saw his ability with the car.
The start
The drivers were held at the lights for a while, Hamilton gets away well off the line as does Verstappen who slotted in behind Rosberg. Then Vettel tries to get on the back of Verstappen gets alongside into Turn One. Hits the Red Bull as there wasn’t enough space. Vettel gets hit by Rosberg breaking his suspension.
The stewards decided that Vettel was to blame – issuing the four-time world champion with a grid penalty and two penalty points on his licence. The statement said “Having thoroughly reviewed the video and having spoken to the driver concerned, the Stewards determined that although the cars involved in the incident were all moving at relatively similar speeds, the driver of Car 5 [Vettel] made a small error entering to the inside of Turn 1 that led to the contact with Car 6 [Rosberg].”
“As a consequence, Car 6 was caused to spin from second place and lose multiple positions, which the stewards determined was predominantly the fault of the driver of Car 5.”
Haas out
It was a bad afternoon for the Haas, Esteban Gutierrez was hit from behind at the start. But it was Romain Grosjean who was out for a car failure, the rear of the Haas snapped on him sending off the track. Gutierrez recovered from the hit but a team error caused his retirement from the race when lost his left-front wheel flew from the car at speed on lap 42.
Haas have been €5000 for an unsafe release on lap 42. Head steward and BRDC president Derrick Warwick said in a statement “”Having reviewed the audio from the car, the available data and spoken to the driver and team concerned, the stewards were satisfied that the driver Gutierrez did not know that he was driving the car in an unsafe condition.”
McLaren more progress
Fernando Alonso put in a good result after starting from the back of the field finishing seventh. We are seeing great progress from McLaren from that double points finish. I didn’t expect them on a high speed fast flowing circuit to be able to do that but they are getting there.
Racing director Eric Boullier said “To be looking at two points’ finishes after starting one car from last position on the grid is an extremely satisfying result – and a real testament to the progress we’re continuing to make at McLaren-Honda.”
“The split-strategy reaped dividends for both Fernando and Jenson, and the pit-crew executed five faultless pit-stops, including a double-shuffle, which is always a stressful moment in any race.”
See you in Japan
Well not long now until we go racing in Japan and this race may decide the championship for the constructors. Should Mercedes finish 1-2 they would seal the title with four races to go. Suzuka is a high speed circuit which is fast and flowing which suits Mercedes
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