2018 F1 challenge round 3: China 15 April. Discussion thread

I'm going to have to buck my ideas up - I am having a Williams start to the season!

A fortune! - didn't you?

The entry fee didn't come my way... maybe it went towards some LR bits ??

I do hope so.The double failure for the Red bull guys means they have a lot to prove.

As I said after Quali: it all ended in tears. Kimi rescued it a bit due to safety car whereas Seb (and Ham) had their races screwed up by it and Seb was the latest victim of the Marc Marquez of F1, Max Crashtappen (he taps; you crash). Fair play to Ricciardo: proper old fashioned driver's drive. If I'm honest I was contemplating returning to bed after the first 20 minutes it was that dull but then the safety car shook it all up and it became entertaining: who'd have thought?

Austin next week for the MotoGP. I love Sundays at this time of year.

Max Verstappen is too immature to be racing at this level. So far he's been lucky but it's only a matter of time before he seriously injures someone.

I think he adds a bit of excitement. Did he actually touch Vettel or did they both twitch at the same time and spin in tandem. Ricciardo's move down the inside of Bottas was epic but very lucky. It was probably fortunate it was Bottas because he was prepared to give Ricciardo the 2 inches he needed to get past. If that had been Vettel or Hamilton it was a definite T-bone.

What a Grand Prix. Just when you think F1 is becoming stale, it produces a race like that. Thank you Pirelli.

Verstappen is a puzzling case. In reality, I don’t think he has done much wrong to date. For all of the botched moves he’s made, since 2015 the majority of his overtakes have paid off. In Bahrain, he almost did everything right. He got the inside line, controlled it on the brakes, and Hamilton couldn’t have come back at him. He just about went too far in edging Hamilton out, which was unnecessary, because Verstappen had quite effectively parked his car at the apex, leaving the former nothing to fight with.

In Shanghai, he quite simply got it wrong on Vettel. Similarly, Gasley got it wrong with his teammate Hartley. You can’t just dive down the inside of turn 14 as the preceding car is turning in. That preceding car has to go somewhere, and it won’t suddenly jump out of the way just because you show the nose. I thought Verstappen’s attempt to overtake Hamilton in turn 7 was fantastic; you want someone spontaneous who will be adventurous with their race craft. It was an attempt, an ill-judged one, but this is racing, and if one starts to begrudge someone for making an effort in that manner, that would be a sad day.

It was telling that Verstappen apologised to Vettel. I don’t recall him apologising after any of the other incidents he has been involved. I think the reason is clear; Ferrari and Mercedes might well be interesting in his services in the near future, but not if he keeps hitting their cars. Verstappen is hot property, but he’s been involved in a fair few incidents with Vettel, costing him points and victories. You had Spa 2016, Mexico 2016, Silverstone 2017, Singapore 2017 and Shanghai 2018. Ferrari will always seek the best, but not any cost. Verstappen is still learning, and it shows. Sometimes his composure lapses, and his qualifying is inconsistent. Hopefully he can combine that great race craft with more composure sooner rather than later.

Hamilton most recently seems remarkably okay at others passing him. He got mugged by Alonso in Bahrain, and both Red Bull drivers in Shanghai. Maybe that plan is working, because other drivers don’t mind giving up positions to him. Note how Alonso let him by in Bahrain, and then Hulkenberg and Ocon during the same event. It isn’t the attacking Lewis we know, but it is allowing him to consistently score points whilst others get involved in incidents.

Bottas is almost there, but not quite. In Bahrain, he should have applied greater pressure to Vettel earlier, forcing the latter to use up his tyres. Unfortunately, it was just too late, and then Bottas’ tyres were pretty old towards the end as well. I recall the 2014 Italian GP. Hamilton was behind Rosberg. He had just came out of the pits, and his engineer told him to conserve his tyres, and attack later. Hamilton disagreed, and wanted to attack straight away on new tyres. Sure enough, closing down Rosberg caused the latter to overdrive, and he went too deep into turn one, leaving the lead to Hamilton. I think that is the racer’s instinct, and what makes an elite driver. The team might well have some of the most sophisticated modelling and algorithms saying one thing, but only you are sitting behind the wheel and feeling those tyres. Not every time, but sometimes, the driver needs to lead in that situation. I don’t see much direction from Bottas.

Bottas is fantastic at leading a race, aborbing pressure from behind and hitting his marks – he was great after the pitstop exchange and in Russia last year. However, he needs to be more demanding with his team, and get more aggressive with his attempts to overtake, and make moves stick. You won’t find Alonso sneezing at the last second when pursuing someone.

I thought Mercedes really did miss an opportunity with Hamilton when the Safety Car got deployed. When one looks at the trajectory of it, Vettel and Bottas had already passed the pitlane entrance. However, Hamilton had not. With the latter struggling along in fourth, they had little to lose. Fresh tyres were going to be huge towards the end, with the leaders trying to limp home on a one-stop strategy. 

It was amusing to see Ferrari utterly ruin Raikkonen’s race, turning him into a mobile chicane for Bottas to help Vettel. Even after leaving Raikkonen a pitstop behind, he still managed to finish ahead of Vettel

Interesting what Sav says about Verstappen but I would point out that Red Bull already have a fantastic overtaker in their team and I don't recall him having so many incidents in his earliest days (could be wrong there, my memory seems to be getting shit).

I wonder if Verstappen is actually suffering from arrogance and over-confidence and isn't really treating the experienced drivers around him with any consideration.

Hamilton did. They showed him driving past the pit lane entrance with the SC signs lit.

I think there is a good reason why Ricciardo wasn’t error-strewn during his earlier years in F1. He had a more regular rise through the ranks, doing F3 but then moving to the old World Series By Renault. That series was a set-up in power and competition, at the time, it was a good proving ground for F1 – Vettel and Magnussen took a similar route to F1.

Verstappen only did a sole season in Euro F3 in terms of the upper levels of the single seater ladder, then went straight to Toro Rosso in 2015. In light of his lack of experience, he does an exceptional job. However, I think the decision not to put him in the World Series or GP2 sometimes goes against him. Perhaps another year to iron out mistakes, and learn in a less high-profile environment would have been better.

Simon is right, Mercedes had the same opportunity as Red Bull did for getting new tyres under the Safety Car period. At other tracks, track position would have been key. It reminded me of a NASCAR race, when someone gets new tyres that isn't expected to win, the leaders stay out and pay the price. Shanghai's layout naturally puts more than average strain on the tyres, but as the surface has become more abrasive - the issue is exacerbated. It was a no-brainer. The first three were trying to trundle home on a one-stopper with dodgy tyres at the end, it wasn't a difficult decision. However, perhaps the call was too late for Mercedes' strategy process. That sounds bizarre, but I think that was the reason.

 

I think we're a bit harsh on Verstappen, his impatience is part of his appeal and passing cars where you shouldn't be able to is all about being young and dumb and also fits on nicely with the Red bull ethos. Charles Leclerc is supposedly the real deal and he seems to be struggling to keep the car from spinning on a straight.

Overtaking is all well and good but, some of Verstappen's decisions are definitely out of kilter and he is going to pay for it big time.