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2019 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Results & aftermath

Bottas brilliant in Baku for the win, Hamilton P2 to extend Mercedes mastery; Vettel P3 for frustrated Ferrari

Valtteri Bottas entered the 2019 season vowing to be less of a wingman to his peerless 5-time World Champion teammate Lewis Hamilton and more of a threat to him for the title. So far in this young season Bottas has made good on his promise. After pipping Hamilton for pole position, Bottas was able to hold off the hard charging Hamilton on the opening lap of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday at the alternately wide and tight Baku City Street circuit. It was something the Finn was unable to do in China two weeks ago but this time he kept his elbows out in a respectful but forceful manner and kept Hamilton behind him. Following that crucial first lap, the pace of Bottas’ Mercedes was untouchable by the rest of the field, including his elite teammate. Bottas was able to pull away and manage the race from the front, surviving some tricky tire strategy, as well as Hamilton’s best efforts, to eventually romp to the win by a healthy 1.5 seconds. That avenged Bottas’ heartbreaking loss here last year when a late lap puncture denied him certain victory and he now has two wins to bookend Hamilton’s own brace. Bottas leads the Englishman by a single point in the Driver’s standings, which he scored by taking fastest lap in Melbourne along with the victory there. The race in Azerbaijan, Round 4 of the Championship, also highlighted a dominant start by team Mercedes and marked their fourth consecutive 1-2 finish to start the year.

That is bad news for Ferrari and fans of the fabled Scuderia. After all the talk of the Prancing Horses having the pace advantage over the Silver Arrows, Ferrari has yet to prove that in a race this year. Mercedes appears able to turn up the performance without sacrificing reliability and they have two drivers who almost never make mistakes. Both those shortcomings bit Ferrari in Baku. Wile looking like the fastest overall during each round of practice, Ferrari’s young phenom Charles Leclerc binned his car into the TecPro barriers at the tricky Castle complex during Saturday qualifying. Yeoman’s work by the team’s mechanics enabled Leclerc to start with a healthy car on the grid on Sunday and he was elevated to P8 by the time the race started due to others’ penalties. But it was a far cry from a possible pole and put the Monegasque on an alternate tire strategy from the rest of the frontrunners, with Leclerc’s Prancing Horse starting on the Medium Pirelli’s while the other top 10 began on the softs. So Leclerc would obviously run a longer first stint and for a while it looked like the alternate strategy just might pay off with unexpectedly good results, as the Soft rubber of those around him expired much more quickly than expected.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Leclerc made a passel of passes through the midfield to get to P5 by Lap 7 and by the time Hamilton finished off the round of pit stops for the top 3 on Lap 14 Leclerc inherited the race lead. But Ferrari may have gotten greedy — they were also understandably worried about the life of the Soft tires to close the race to be fair — and kept Leclerc out on that first set of Medium tires all the way to Lap 34. Continue reading →

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Qualifying results

Bottas sizes last-second pole at Baku at expense of teammate Hamilton; Vettel qualifies P3 for Ferrari after Leclerc crashes out in Q2

Mercedes ostensible Number 2 driver Valtteri Bottas snatched pole for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in the dying moneys of an action packed Saturday qualifying, knocking off his teammate Lewis Hamilton’s previously supreme time by .06 seconds as the checkered flag flew. For a desperate moment in Q3 it looked as if Mercedes had blown it by playing cute and loitering at pit out while a stream of cars launched onto the track for their last runs. But with the sun setting and the track cooling after several crash-induced delays to qualifying, Mercedes had the last laugh by enabling their two stars to utilize the slipstream of the closest cars in front of them — for Hamilton running last that meant Bottas — to get a tow down Baku’s enormous final high speed straight. That proved to be enough of an advantage for both Silver Arrows to once again lockout the front row. And for Bottas, who made just slightly better effect of that drafting technique than Hamilton, it meant gaining the prime position to try and avenge his loss in this race last year when he was leading handily but suffered a puncture that cost him victory just yards from the finish line.

Pics courtesy GrandPirx247.com

Mercedes’ joy once again came at the expense of Ferrari, which had been looking like the quickest cars coming into qualifying today. The fastest of the Prancing Horses on this tight and treacherous Baku City Circuit was actually the junior member Charles Leclerc who displayed a decided advantage over his teammate Sebastian Vettel and the entire field throughout each of the three practice sessions. But team and driver may have both gotten a little greedy in Q2. With Ferrari setting the pace the braintrust decided to put both cars out on the Medium Pirellis, the only cars in the remaining 15 to go out on the harder rubber. The Medium tires lacked just that bit of grip on the cooling asphalt and Leclerc misjudged his breaking by a fraction going into the very tight Turn 8 Castle complex. The young phenom tried to make the corner rather than play it safe and abort down the escape runoff but the Ferrari went straight and speared heavily into the TecPro barrier, ending the Monegasque’s day and badly damaging his chassis. From looking like a favorite for the pole Leclerc instead was left bitterly upbraiding himself and praying that his team of mechanics can rebuild a competitive car by the start of the GP tomorrow.

The surviving Ferrari of veteran Sebastian Vettel qualified P3 and the German looked like he might seize the pole that Leclerc left unclaimed. But Mercedes’ slipstream strategy nipped him at the end and relegated Vettel to the second row. He will start alongside Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who was very quick, as well, and qualified P4. The Dutchman’s Red Bull could be the dark horse for the race win because the car looks exceptionally well planted on this technical circuit and perhaps the team’s lack of straight line speed relative to the big two of Mercedes and Ferrari can be made up in race trim. Unfortunately, Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Pierre Gasly, while also very quick, was undone by incurring a major penalty for blowing by the inspection weigh station in Friday practice, which necessitates a pit lane start as draconian punishment. Look for the Frenchman to cut his way through the laggards at the back of the field in the opening laps, though of course he must stay patient in such tight quarters lest he throw the race away by clashing with slower competitors.

The misfortunes of some of the members of the top three teams proved a boon to several of the midfield runners. Now benefitted more than Sergio Perez, who did a wonderful day’s work by willing his Racing Point machine all the way up to the fifth fastest time. Similarly, Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat had one of his good days and overcame a hard kiss off the wall on his rear right to qualify P6. McLaren rookie Lando Norris qualified P7, which was the best placement of any Renault-powered chassis on the grid by far. Antonio Giovinazzi also had his best-ever qualifying result, besting his Alfa-Romeo teammate Kimi Raikkonen P8 to P9, as Alfa also made good use of slipstreaming to set their fast final laps. Unfortunately for the young Italian he will drop back 10 spots on the gird come Sunday due to power unit changes. That means even after his mishap in Q2, Leclerc is slated to be elevated to P9 on the grid for tomorrow’s start. That is if Ferrari can rebuild his car without taking any parts-change penalties in the process.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Azerbaijan GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:42.026 1:41.500 1:40.495 20
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:41.614 1:41.580 1:40.554 21
3 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:42.042 1:41.889 1:40.797 23
4 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:41.727 1:41.388 1:41.069 15
5 11 Sergio Perez RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES 1:42.249 1:41.870 1:41.593 17
6 26 Daniil Kvyat SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 1:42.324 1:42.221 1:41.681 23
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN RENAULT 1:42.371 1:42.084 1:41.886 23
8 99 Antonio Giovinazzi ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI 1:42.140 1:42.381 1:42.424 21
9 7 Kimi Räikkönen ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI 1:42.059 1:42.082 1:43.068 21
10 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:41.426 1:41.995 11

Complete qualifying results amiable via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN2 at  8:00 AM Eastern here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out at this always eventful street circuit!

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain — Results & aftermath

Mercedes and Hamilton pounce as Ferrari fumble away a win in the desert; Bottas P2 ahead of hard-luck Leclerc while Vettel spins

Ferrari had the dominant car and driver all weekend long. And in Sunday’s race at the Sakhir Circuit in Bahrain everything appeared to be playing out just as it had in practice and qualifying, with a Prancing Horse firmly in the lead. It was their rising young star Charles Leclerc who was dominating from the front, showing his class by fighting back first against his 4-time World Champion teammate Sebastian Vettel when Vettel got away quicker at the start and then leaving the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in his wake. The 21-year-old pole-sitter looked to be on course for his maiden Formula 1 victory and perhaps the establishment of a new team and driver pecking order in the paddock. But on Lap 46 the dream weekend of Ferrari dominance began to crumble as Leclerc began compiling of engine issues and his blood-red car began losing power with what appeared to be a turbo problem. With Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton running a clean race even though he lacked the pure pace of the Prancing Horse the 5-time and current World Champ was in perfect position to take advantage of the Ferrari’s ill-timed reliability issues. In heartbreaking fashion, Leclerc saw his almost certain victory evaporate as Hamilton’s Silver Arrow relentlessly closed down his previously unassailable lead. On Lap 48 the Englishman passed the wounded Ferrari easily. Worse still for the Scuderia, Bottas was also able to catch up to Leclerc and took away P2.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

In a bare minimum of good fortune for the crestfallen Ferrari pilot the race finished under the Safety Car when both Renaults suffered terminal mechanical failures on Lap 53 of this 57-lap contest. With the drivers forced to hold station for the final few laps, this insured that Leclerc at least made the podium and kept his P3 before Red Bull’s Max Verstappen could dispatch him on track, as the Dutchman most likely would have. But it was cold comfort on a day that promised so much more for the famed team from Maranello and their young Monegasque phenom. To compound Ferrari’s woes Vettel had a disappointing effort. Continue reading →

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain — Qualifying results

Leclerc scores maiden pole in Bahrain ahead of P2 Vettel to lead Ferrari rebound & front row lockout; Mercedes’ Hamilton only third fastest

After showing disappointingly pedestrian pace at Formula 1’s season opener in Australia two weeks ago, Ferrari rebounded strongly during Saturday qualifying for Round Two at the Sakhir Circuit in Bahrain. And it was their precocious first year driver Charles Leclerc who bested not only the field for his first career pole position but also his 4-time World Champion teammate, Sebastian Vettel. Under the bright lights of this night race in the affluent Persian Gulf nation it was the Monégasque Leclerc who shone the brightest, setting a new track record of 1:27.866, eclipsing Vettel’s previous record lap from last year. With Ferrari back to the form they showed in preseason testing, the Scuderia dominated all practice sessions and then locked out the front row when it really mattered. And their 21-year-old ostensible Number 2 blasted a shot across not only Mercedes’ bow but also senior stablemate Vettel’s. The braintrust at Maranello have to be feeling much better about taking the fight to Mighty Mercedes than they did a fortnight ago after their underwhelming run in Melbourne. Now it’s up to the Prancing Horses to run away from the Silver Arrows come race day tomorrow and prove that it really will be game on for the Constructors’ Title in 2019.

Mercedes were clearly second best on Saturday after dominating the debut race of the season which led to Bottas’ impressive win. Lewis Hamilton did out-qualify Bottas P3 to P4 but then he also led the field from pole at Albert Park and was outclassed by his Finnish teammate. So look for Hamilton to work very hard to best Bottas tomorrow even if Mercedes do not have the pace to challenge for the win against what looks to be a resurgent Ferrari at a track that really seems to suit their blood red cars. Continue reading →

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Qualifying results

Hamilton lays down marker for 2019 with pole run in Melbourne, pipping Bottas to lock out front row for Mercedes; Ferrari’s Vettel only good enough for P3 start in first race of new season

After the long, dark winter the new 2019 Formula 1 season began in earnest at the sunny Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, Australia on Saturday with the first qualifying session of the year at the now traditional opening weekend from down under. Proving that the more things change the more they stay the same, Mercedes’ ace Lewis Hamilton, the current reigning World Champion, snatched pole out of the hungry hands of his Finnish teammate, Valtteri Bottas. With Bottas entering his third year with the factory Mercedes team desperate to give Hamilton more of a challenge and shed his wingman reputation it looked midway through Q3 that he’d done enough to get the better of Lewis. But Hamilton marshaled a mighty final lap of just 1:22.043, good enough for the lap record, as well as the pole over his crestfallen teammate by a mere .012 seconds.

If Bottas was dismayed yet again by Hamilton’s unearthly quali pace Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel must also have had a sinking feeling of deja vu. After finishing second to Hamilton in the championship for the last two seasons and working under a new team boss after Maurizio Arrivabene was canned in favor of former technical director Mattia Binotto, Vettel could only have been disheartened to find the pace of this year’s model of Prancing Horse still wanting that certain bit of magic in comparison the peerless Silver Arrows. Vettel could do no better than P3 with a time some seven-tenths slower than his pole-sitting nemesis. Vettel’s new teammate Charles Leclerc, who made the leap from last year’s sister Sauber team to Ferrari’s second seat, displacing veteran Kimi Raikkonen in the process, acquitted himself very well with a solid P5 run his first time out of the chute. Leclerc was bested, though, by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who pushed his now-Honda powered chassis to the very edge and up to a P4 qualifying time. It was difficult to get a true read on Red Bull and their engine partners, however, as Verstappen’s new teammate Pierre Gasly, who was promoted from Toro Rosso, got caught out by rapidly improving track conditions in Q1 and was bounced with only the 17th fastest time in that first session. Look for a lot of passing from Gasly early in tomororw’s race as he looks to atone for that lackluster effort and show that team Red Bull made the right choice is letting Daniel Ricciardo to give him the first team drive.

Further down the order, the Haas F1 team made a strong opening bid to earn the “best of the rest” moniker, as the returning duo of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen qualified P6 and P7 respectively. Continue reading →

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi — Results & aftermath

Hamilton finishes historic season in style with dominant win in Abu Dhabi; Vettel runner-up, Verstappen P3

Newly minted 5-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton resisted complacency and instead turned in another vintage Hammertime performance to cap off a historically successful 2018 Formula 1 season. Mercedes’ ace lead the race from pole, dominating from the front, and never faced a serious challenge in Sunday’s in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from futuristic Yas Marina, the final race of the year. Hamilton picked up his 11th victory out of 21 contests and scored his record-setting 408th championship point. For as close as the season seemed at just a little over the halfway mark, Hamilton and Mercedes dominated Ferrari down the stretch en route to the team’s fifth Constructors’ title on the trot since the start of the current hybrid formula. Ferrari have got to be hoping that next year’s rule tweaks can slow the German juggernaut down in 2014. The fabled Scuderia were left pondering the ashes of another failed campaign and wondering where exactly they lost their way not long after the summer break. The Prancing Horses seemed poised to take their challenge to Mercedes’ dominance down to the wire after Vettel’s victory at Spa in August. But then Hamilton reeled off 6 wins in the last eight races with Kimi Raikkonen at COTA in the United States the only Ferrari driver standing on the top step during that amazing run. There will have to be a lot of midnight oil burnt at Maranello during the short winter break if Ferrari and Vettel are to have any hope of catching up to what is now officially a dynastic championship run by Hamilton and mighty Mercedes.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

The race got off to a scary start on the opening lap when the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg and the Haas of Romain Grosjean touched wheels while fighting for the same piece of real estate, sending Hulkenberg’s car airborne and barrel rolling several time before ending up in the energy-dispersing “Lego” barriers upside down. The helpless Hulkenberg was extracted from the car after some time and emerged unscathed, though the time it took to get him out did bring home the double-edged nature of the Halo system. Things might not have been so positive had his car been on fire during all the time it took to get Hulkenberg out of there safely.

Thankfully, though, the German was unhurt and the race resumed when the Safety Car came in at the end of Lap 4. Hamilton once again vaulted to the lead on the restart, while the Red Bull of Max Verstappen began making up places at a furious pace after software issues at the very start of the race saw the Dutchman drop like a stone from his initial P6 position on the grid. Continue reading →

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico — Results & aftermath

Hamilton finishes P4 doing enough to earn fifth world title in Mexico

Red Bull’s Verstappen cruises to victory; Vettel a hard fought P2, Raikkonen P3 in consolation podium for Ferrari

Despite not winning the race and coming home a disappointing fourth place, Mercedes’ ace Lewis Hamilton scored enough points to claim his remarkable fifth Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City on Sunday. By dint of his consistently superlative season, which includes 9 victories out of the 19 contests so far, Hamilton’s P4 at the Mexican Grand Prix still put him mathematically out of reach of his nearest pursuer, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton joins 1950s legend Juan Manual Fangio and Michael Schumacher as the only drivers to win at least 5 World Championships and only Schumacher has more with a record 7. Of course, F1 fortunes can change quickly but at only 33-years of age and piloting the superlative Silver Arrow it is quite conceivable that Hamilton might tie or even break the great Schumacher’s seemingly untouchable benchmark for championships. We shall see. But for now let us appreciate one of F1’s greatest careers in any era and a man as suited to this period of the sport as Fangio, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Schumacher were to theirs. Once again, in 2018 Ham is the man.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Despite Hamilton’s massive career accomplishment it was not really Mercedes’ day. Both Hamilton and his wingman, Valtteri Bottas, struggled on the softer, quick-degrading Pirelli tires on offer for this high altitude race. Along with Hamilton’s subpar P4, Bottas would come home a lackluster P5 and a full lap down. No, the race belonged to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who made a dynamite start from P2, pipping his pole-sitting teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, for a race lead he would never really relinquish. Verstapppen easily held off a late charge by a desperate Vettel to make it two wins in a row in Mexico, where the Red Bull really seems to thrive on the thin air, and log his fifth GP career victory. With a little better mount next year look for the Dutch wunderkind to challenge Hamilton and make a serious run for his first Drivers’ Championship.

But all was not completely well for Red Bull. With their veteran Ricciardo looking like he too would podium and doing his best to hold off Vettel for P2 as the race wound down, the Australian’s engine began to smoke ominously on Lap 62 of this 71-lap contest. Continue reading →

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Results & aftermath

Hamilton cruises to victory, extends championship lead; Verstappen finishes P2 ahead of disheartened Vettel in P3

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton capped his perfect weekend with an unassailable drive to victory at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore on Sunday, making the most of his dominant pole position as a springboard to get away and stay away from any and all challengers. Better yet for Hamilton, his main title rival, Sebastian Vettel, could not overcome his P3 qualifying effort and was unable to pass Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on this very tight track either via pit strategy or pure pace. With the Dutch wunderkind battling engine gremlins and preserving his tires in a very poised and mature effort throughout the race, Vertsappen successfully held off Vettel to finish P2. Most pivotally Verstappen got the better of a very close encounter when he was just coming out of the pits on cold tires on Lap 18 and Vettel, who had already pitted 3 laps earlier, desperately tried to steam past him in the chicane. Unable to get that move done or really challenge Verstappen again after that his eventual P3 finish dealt the German’s title hopes a blow, as Hamilton pulled out his points lead to 40 with the victory.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Both men are hunting their fifth F1 World Championship but Hamilton has now won four out of the last six contests and while Vettel has won this other two he has seen his deficit grow to an alarming level with only six more Grand Prix remaining in 2018. Worse yet for the Scuderia, the Ferrari SF71H no longer seems to be keeping up with the Mercedes W09’s continuing improvement. Vettel also appears to have lost a bit of faith in the team, frequently questioning strategy and sometimes attempting to dictate it from the driver’s seat. After their disappointment in Singapore the reality is stark: Ferrari are running out of time to simultaneously ramp up their performance and make the savvy strategy calls that will enable their superb ace to return to being a true threat to Hamilton and Mercedes.

Mercedes’ second driver Valtteri Bottas also outscored outgoing Ferrari #2 Kimi Raikkonen, P4 to P5, further boosting Mercedes lead over Ferrari to to 37 points in the all important Constructors’ Standings. Daniel Ricciardo couldn’t overcome his lackluster qualifying effort and held station to finish a desultory P6 despite hounding both Raikkonen and Bottas in the closing laps. While Singapore is often incident filled it really is exceedingly hard to overtake here. Fernando Alsonso had a great day for himself and team McLaren at his last Singapore GP, coming home “best of the rest” by finishing an impressive P7. That was ahead of the Renaults of Carlos Sainz in P8 and Nico Hulkenberg in P10. And rookie Charles Leclerc gave Ferrari no reason to doubt their decision to promote him into the factory team next year at Raikkonen’s expense. The talented young Monegasque drove a solid race and kept his nose clean to take P9 at the finish.

While there was not much action among the elite racers at the front the midfield and back markers provided many thrills and spills. Sergio Perez had a crazily self-destructive race, shoving his Force India teammate Esteban Ocon into the wall on the opening lap to bring out a Safety Car. He then engaged in a multi-lap dice with the super slow Williams of Sergei Sirotkin becoming so frustrated that when he finally got the opportunity to pass the Russian he cut him off impetuously and caused a collision. That moment of red mist caused Perez’s Force India to suffer a puncture and also earned the Mexican a stop and hold penalty that doomed him to last place. Largely due to Perez’s out of control behavior Force India scored zero points after qualifying P7 and P9. That had team boss Otmar Szafnauer muttering about reinstalling team orders on his unruly charges.

Top 10 finishers for the Singapore GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 61 1:51:11.611 25
2 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 61 +8.961s 18
3 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 61 +39.945s 15
4 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 61 +51.930s 12
5 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 61 +53.001s 10
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 61 +53.982s 8
7 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN RENAULT 61 +103.011s 6
8 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 60 +1 lap 4
9 16 Charles Leclerc SAUBER FERRARI 60 +1 lap 2
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 60 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two weeks time from Sochi Autodrom in Russia. Can Vettel and Ferrari get back to their winning ways or will Hamilton use his superlative Mercedes power to put the hammer down on Vettel’s championship dreams? Hope to see you then  to find out!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary — Results & aftermath

Mercedes’ Hamilton wins again in Hungary, Vettel P2 & Raikkonen P3 for Ferrari; Ricciardo rockets to P4 but Bottas bumped to P5 after late collisions

Mercedes’ ace Lewis Hamilton continued his winning ways in Hungary on Sunday by making it two on the trot at one of his favorite tracks. Following up on his improbable drive from 14th on the grid to victory in Hockenheim last weekend, Hamilton was dominant at the Hungaroring, taking victory here for the sixth time in his career. The win never seemed in doubt and Hamilton came home over 17 seconds ahead of his closest pursuer and arch-rival, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton now leads Vettel by 24 points in the Drivers’ Championship as we head into the summer break.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Vettel and the Scuderia tried to make something happen with strategy by running all the way to Lap 39 on his opening set of Soft tires. But they were thwarted in their attempt to gain track position by an uncharacteristically slow 4.2-second stop by the Ferrari pit crew. That enabled Hamilton’s wingman Valtteri Bottas to regain the P2 position he had relinquished when Mercedes called him way back on Lap 16 for a switch off Ultras and onto Softs. But while Vettel was balked temporarily the gamble would not work out for Mercedes in the long run. By Lap 59 of this 70-lap contest Vettel was right on Bottas gearbox, the Finn’s Silver Arrow sliding around on old rubber by that point, and with Vettel’s teammate Raikkonen stacked up behind them both. Vettel finally orchestrated an overtaking move on Lap 65 and Bottas locked up trying to defend leading to contact between the two cars. Bottas came off the worse for wear with a damaged front wing to go along with his worn out Pirellis but Vettel was unscathed enough to secure that valuable P2 position that he would ride to the end of the race. Even worse for Bottas and team Mercedes first Raikkonen worked his way past the wounded Merc and by Lap 67 he had fallen back into the clutches of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.

The affable Aussie was keen to maximize his remarkable recovery from a poor P12 start after getting caught out by the heavy rain in Saturday qualifying. By Lap 68, Riccardo saw his opportunity to pass and dove to the outside of Bottas going into Turn 1. But once again Bottas could not get his car to respond on worn rubber and his Mercedes understeered into the ambitious Ricciardo’s Red Bull. Luckily both cars were fit enough to make it the final two laps to the checkered flag but Bottas was forced to accept a mediocre P5 after a couple of rough rides. The loss of those valuable positions combined with Ferrari’s 2-3 finish to enable the fabled team from Maranello to creep to within 10 points of the factory Mercedes team in the all-important Constructors’ Championship after 12 rounds and with 9 to go. Meanwhile, Ricciardo’s remarkable P4 drive saved the day for Red Bull, which had lost Max Verstappen early in the race on Lap 6 with yet another Renault engine failure. For Red Bull, next year’s divorce from their long-time engine supplier cannot come soon enough.

Further back in the pack, Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly parlayed a strong qualifying effort in the wet into a fantastic race result with a strong P6 finish, showing the steady improvement of both the car and this talented young driver. Gasly beat out the Haas of Kevin Magnussen, who finished P7, and the McLaren of Fernando Alonso in P8. Carlos Sainz finished P9 for Renault, not a great result after starting from P5 on the grid. The second Haas of Romain Grosjean took the last point in P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Hungarian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 70 1:37:16.427 25
2 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 70 +17.123s 18
3 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 70 +20.101s 15
4 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 70 +46.419s 12
5 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 70 +60.000s 10
6 10 Pierre Gasly SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 70 +73.273s 8
7 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 69 +1 lap 6
8 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN RENAULT 69 +1 lap 4
9 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 69 +1 lap 2
10 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 69 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

As is traditional, The Hungarian Grand Prix is the last race before the long summer break. Formula1 returns on the weekend of August 24-26 with the classic Belgian Grand Prix at legendary Spa-Francorchamps. Hope to see you then — tan, ready and rested for more F1 action!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Austria — Results & aftermath

Verstappen seizes opportunity in chaotic Austrian GP to win at Red Bull Ring; Ferrari capitalize on stunning Mercedes double DNF as Raikkonen and Vettel take P2 & P3

Under punishingly hot conditions at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg Austria on Sunday, Red Bull’s own Max Verstappen capitalized on a chaotic race and parlayed a dynamite start into an unexpected victory in front of a sea of orange-clad fans. With the perfect vantage point of his P4 position on the grid, the Dutch wunderkind watched as Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen attacked both front row Mercedes by forcing his Prancing Horse between the Silver Arrows of pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas and P2 starter Lewis Hamilton. For a brief moment it looked as if that bold and ballsy effort might work but Bottas was able to recover and force Raikonnen off the circuit as Hamilton sped away into the distance. That left Raikonnen at the mercy of Max, as Verstappen was able to capitalize on the veteran Finn’s loss of momentum and pass him for P3 before the eventful first lap was even half over.

It looked as if Hamilton’s and Mercedes preferred script for the win was playing out perfectly but the track conditions made extra demands of the equipment on this very hot day. In a harbinger of things to come, first the factory Renault of Nico Hulkenberg suffered a prolonged and smokey engine failure on Lap 12. It proved to be the first of many retirements in this race, none more astonishing then when Bottas suffered complete hydraulic failure just two laps later and was forced to pull his car off into a partial escape road. It was a stunning turn of events for the pole-sitter and yet another perplexing bit of very bad luck for Bottas in what is turning into something of a snakebite season for him. Even worse for Mercedes they were once again caught flat-footed when a Virtual Safety Car was deployed to slow the field so Bottas’ car could be retrieved. The top contenders — Verstappen, his Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo and the two Ferrari men Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel — all dove for the pits for fresh rubber, dispensing with their pit stops on this potential one-stopper while the race was essentially neutralized. In an inexplicably defensive decision Mercedes kept Hamilton out circulating on track at reduced speed. This made it much more likely that the English championship points leader would be forced to pit under less advantageous green flag conditions down the road. I any event his rivals had all made up valuable track position on him with their stops during the VSC.

So when Hamilton was called in for his tire change on Lap 25 he had only a 13-second cushion. And with a roughly 20-second pit delta even the typically efficient Mercedes pit work couldn’t keep Hamilton in the lead. In fact, he came out in P4 when all was said and done, behind the new leader Verstappen, Ricciardo in P2 and Raikkonen in P3. With Bottas out Mercedes were trying to cover being ganged up on by the two car teams of Red Bull and Ferrari if they split their strategies. But that didn’t materialize and it proved to be the wrong call, which the Mercedes brain trust admitted to a highly frustrated Hamilton.

In front of the lone Mercedes, Raikkonen hunted down Riccardo, whose rear tires were blistering badly, passing him for P2 on lap 38. Blistered rears were an issue that would begin to afflict the entire field as the race wore on at this high speed and very short circuit.  Ricciardo was forced to pit for fresh rubber on Lap 39, seemingly gifting back P3 to Hamilton. But Vettel forced his way by Hamilton for that position on the very same lap, as the Merc appeared to already be losing its rears in the heat. By Lap 53 Hamilton had to pit again, once more conceding valuable track position. Hamilton came out in P5 behind a seemingly rejuvenated Ricciardo. But just as it seemed the affable Aussie was going to take off and try to force his way onto the podium he suffered a sudden engine failure at the start of Lap 54. As a disconsolate Ricciardo climbed out of his stricken Red Bull the team had to be looking at Verstappen’s telemetry and wondering whether their bad luck at their home track was fated to continue.

But Hamilton’s good fortune at the expense of Ricciardo’s DNF was short lived. In an unbelievable turn of events Hamilton’s engine also let go10 laps later while running solidly in P4. While it was always going to be a race of damage limitation after the ill-fated decision not to stop under the VSC, Mercedes now had to swallow the bitterest pill of seeing both their cars scoring precisely zero points. It ended a 33-race points scoring streak for the factory team and proved to be calamitous when the race results were tallied. Verstappen finished off a race he controlled beautifully from the front for the majority of the contest with an authoritative victory. And Ferrari saw their men Raikkonen and Vettel take P2 and P3 respectively, a massive result fir the fabled team from Maranello. With their arch-rivals scoring nothing, it catapulted Ferrari into the lead of the all-important Constructors’ Championship by 10 points. Vettel also regained the points lead in the Drivers’ competition. And while that was only a 1 point margin in what has been a see-saw battle between four-time champions all season long one almost felt that the gut punch that Mercedes received in Austria could be more significant to the overall direction of these two powerhouse teams’ and their long term fortunes.

The disasters experienced by so many of the top contenders proved a veritable boon for the mid-field running teams. Haas saw the biggest benefit from others’ misery as Romain Grosjean finally put together a composed drive and came across the line in a stunning P4. His teammate Kevin Magnussen finished right behind him in P5 making it a banner day for the young American team. Force India also flourished due to the bad luck of their nearest rivals, especially pointless Renault, after looking utterly lost in qualifying. Esteban Ocon took P6 and Sergio Perez was P7 despite starting near the rear, a mega-valuable points haul for a team that had been struggling and appears to be up for sale. Fernando Alonso, who started from the pit lane, managed to salvage a remarkable P8 for McLaren, while Sauber had a rare double points day with rookie phenom Charles Leclerc taking P9 and Marcus Ericsson coming home in P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Austrian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 71 1:21:56.024 25
2 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 71 +1.504s 18
3 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 71 +3.181s 15
4 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 70 +1 lap 12
5 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 70 +1 lap 10
6 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 70 +1 lap 8
7 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 70 +1 lap 6
8 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN RENAULT 70 +1 lap 4
9 16 Charles Leclerc SAUBER FERRARI 70 +1 lap 2
10 9 Marcus Ericsson SAUBER FERRARI 70 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is but a week away as F1 completes its unprecedented “triple header” — the historic British Grand Prix from Silverstone. Can Mercedes recover from this weekend’s fiasco or have Ferrari now got their number? Hope to see you then to find out!