F1 challenge 2018 round 10: British GP: Discussion thread

I must say I'm expecting Lewis to literally drive off into the distance.

Oof! Just turned on the final practice to see Brindin Hurtlay's crash.

A shame for Hamilton, but what a great Grand Prix.

I’m convinced that Bottas lacks a certain serial winning mentality that the best have demonstrated; whether it be Hamilton or Vettel, or Senna or Prost from decades ago. Bottas defended so well on the Wellington straight for a few laps, but then failed to defend a third time, and Vettel didn’t need a second invitation.

Sure, Bottas had a disadvantage on tyres. However, Vettel’s Soft compound tyres were falling away as well. Bottas was getting decent exits from the Village Loop, and just needed to defend the inside and hang Vettel out to dry at Brooklands. Like other serial winners, we’ve seen them drive with a disadvantage but still win. Whether that be Hamilton on worse tyres than Rosberg at Bahrain in 2014, or Vettel not having full gear selection at Brazil a few years ago. The greats just have an ability to soak up exceptional pressure, and sometimes go beyond the limit to defend their position. Of course, Bottas has been the victim of dreadful luck. He should have won in China and Baku, and retired from second in Austria. However, he should have won in Bahrain, but he sneezed at the last second and half-heartedly pursued Vettel. With today’s race, I’m not saying that Bottas should have won. However, he should have defended more robustly, which he was doing, apart from one lap.

It was interesting to see the Ferrari almost beat Mercedes in qualifying, but the Mercedes appeared to be faster during the Grand Prix itself – a role reversal compared to recent years. The latest Ferrari engine seems to be more powerful, with better battery deployment. Over a single lap that might be why Ferrari have closed on the Merc’s, in combination with Ferrari’s floor update. The more corners that are flat-out, the engine becomes even more important, especially with the excess drag of the 2018 cars. However, a lot of these turns become proper corners with a 105kg of fuel, and it seems like the advantage swings back to Mercedes’ chassis.

Interesting incident with Grosjean and Sainz. I think it was ultimately a racing incident, but Sainz would have to take any blame for it. Copse is such an angle-dependent corner, pinch someone towards the apex at that speed and expect them to badly understeer – which is what happened to Grosjean. Previously in the race, Verstappen and Raikkonen raced through Copse, but Verstappen intelligently gave Raikkonen the room to understeer wide on the outside, avoiding a collision.

Great race. Hammy's bad start made the whole thing interesting. A good start might've made it a pit strategy special, but that punt off at turn 3 made all the difference.