OV9

What a great race. Red Bull as a team we’re on fire, Ricciardo drove brilliantly, Max needs to learn some patience and I enjoyed seeing Vettel do badly.

I loved the interview between Toto Wolff and the Sky guys.

Simon: “You should have pitted”
Toto: [looks at watch] “Yes, 30 minutes after the race has ended, you’re right”

Great race. I thought "dickhead" Max got off lightly with a 10 second penalty for hitting Seb. Not bad for Lewis finishing ahead of Seb, he lacked pure pace all weekend. Another solid finish for Alonso, no idea why BBC Benson keeps attacking McLaren, TR Honda finished practically last again.

McLaren are currently 4th in the Constructors and only 2 points shy of their 2017 points total after 3 races. They’re not fully there yet, but they’re certainly improving.

Great race. I actually thought Bottas was very good today, came under a lot of pressure from both Seb and Kimi and didn't look like buckling at any point. Good restart after the SC too.

He got plenty of stick last week so deserves credit this week.

Ferrari really threw Kimi under the bus, it’s why I can’t ever support them and found it quite satisfying when Vettel had his race ruined.

Ferrari seem to have made a massive leap forward in the off season. I’m starting to doubt they can make it stick, I think they’re either going to run into durability issues with the engine/power units expiring early and not lasting the season or they’ve got something on the car the other teams haven’t twigged to yet (would fully expect it to be illegal too)

I’ll go put my tinfoil hat back on...!

I only caught the end of it and some highlights but it looked the best race in an ages. Enjoyed seeing plenty of overtakes and never gets old seeing Ricciardo win as he seems a great guy and can overtake like no one else.

I want to see Ric in a Merc or a Ferrari.

I hope Verstappen can sort out his scrappy overtakes, I'm sure he will, but until he does he's just chucking away decent results and potential wins.

Ricciardo doesn't seem to have Verstappen's outright speed, but is more consistent and seems to have fewer incidents...maybe slightly better race craft?

Anyway, nice to see things were a bit mixed up in this GP.

I wish it were like that for every GP but it seems its not the driver who fares best in mixed conditions but he who has the fastest car (and slowest team mate) still which is a shame.

The highlights didn't make it clear, would the ferraris / mercs have been able to pit when the safety car was announced or were they already past the pit entrance?

Although track position probably meant they would be more inclined to stay on their planned strategies anyway while redbull rolled the dice and took the chance when it came.

Bottas was past but they could have brought Hamilton in.

integrale_evo wrote: Sun Apr 15, 2018 11:35 pm The highlights didn't make it clear, would the ferraris / mercs have been able to pit when the safety car was announced or were they already past the pit entrance?

Although track position probably meant they would be more inclined to stay on their planned strategies anyway while redbull rolled the dice and took the chance when it came.

The SC lights came up on the board when Bottas was at the pit entrance.

NotoriousREV wrote: Mon Apr 16, 2018 7:17 am

integrale_evo wrote: Sun Apr 15, 2018 11:35 pm The highlights didn't make it clear, would the ferraris / mercs have been able to pit when the safety car was announced or were they already past the pit entrance?

Although track position probably meant they would be more inclined to stay on their planned strategies anyway while redbull rolled the dice and took the chance when it came.

The SC lights came up on the board when Bottas was at the pit entrance.

They should have pitted Lewis, then it would have been an even more interesting race. Also, I was surprised how gain Bottas gained by undercutting Seb during the first pit stops. Ferrari didn't react fast enough.

Alex_ wrote: Mon Apr 16, 2018 7:43 am

NotoriousREV wrote: Mon Apr 16, 2018 7:17 am

integrale_evo wrote: Sun Apr 15, 2018 11:35 pm The highlights didn't make it clear, would the ferraris / mercs have been able to pit when the safety car was announced or were they already past the pit entrance?

Although track position probably meant they would be more inclined to stay on their planned strategies anyway while redbull rolled the dice and took the chance when it came.

The SC lights came up on the board when Bottas was at the pit entrance.

They should have pitted Lewis, then it would have been an even more interesting race. Also, I was surprised how gain Bottas gained by undercutting Seb during the first pit stops. Ferrari didn't react fast enough.

See the Toto Wolff quote further up for details

Brundle I am fairly sure said in commentary that RB would be fast but he reckoned track position would be king.

Cracking race, shame RB cannot get closer in quali but at tracks where you can overtake they have option with strategy this year, looking like it cold be a cracker of a year.

Kimi has been on the pace of Vettel this year, shame to see the team seeming to be happy to smash Kimi's chances, even the start, both Ferraris could have been away at the front but chopping across cost them a good team result (or at least a good position prior to pit stops). I suspect Bottas's approach of consistency might help Mercedes for the Constructors.

It was surprising how Bottos got the undercut on Vettel but other cars were seeming to go well on that tyre. I think Bottas also put in good in and out laps.

Critical meeting for the future of the sport coming up as they're going to talk about how to make following easier. I hope they sort it out.

NotoriousREV wrote: Sun Apr 15, 2018 9:48 am What a great race. Red Bull as a team we’re on fire, Ricciardo drove brilliantly, Max needs to learn some patience and I enjoyed seeing Vettel do badly.

I loved the interview between Toto Wolff and the Sky guys.

Simon: “You should have pitted”
Toto: [looks at watch] “Yes, 30 minutes after the race has ended, you’re right”

No matter how charming Toto can be in interviews, they fucked up. Merc could have won, but even without hindsight they really should have at least split the strategies. RB did a better job.

As others have said, that was a great race. I suppose the only disappointment was that in essence it was determined by the random intervention of a safety car once again - more than offset by Danny Ric’s balls out overtakes though!

Looking at the Ferraris outright pace this year (at a track at which Hamilton has won 5 times) I can’t help but think that another title might be heading pointy fingers way.

Brundles comments about oil pouring out the back of the Ferraris in Bahrain may be determinative though if they start to suffer reliability issues.

Should make for an interesting season anyway. I think we should also place bets on the point Verstappen gets his racing licence suspended

Red Bull also needs to make a decision whether to stick with Renault or switch to Honda for next season. So far, Honda still haven't shown enough raw pace and reliability to win a championship. Early days but I'd put my money on McLaren beating Toro Rosso, which is a fairer comparison.