Russian GP

[lipstick79 0]

After watching the 2017 Russian GP.

What HAS happened to OVERTAKING ?

I did NOT see ANY overtaking for race position - surely THIS devalues Bottas` maiden
victory 

 

[rodders47 2]

Was  that a RACE ??????  only parts worth watching was Vettell trying to catch Botas and HAMMY complaining !!!!

[Publius Cornelius Scipio 0]

we didn't get the race live in Italy yesterday, I had to wait until 9 pm, several hours without watching the news, without listening to the radio and what did I end up with? a race with not a single overtake on track, not one!!!! I agree that the new rules are some sort of improvement over last year but these guys must understand that F1 has a problem and that need to be addressed and such problem is too much aero

Bottas - he drove well, he always did at Sochi, from a driver point of view it's a bit of an odd racetrack and he seems to adapt very well. He had a great start due in part to the fact that he didn't make any mistake and for the rest to the fact that Mercedes' maic button worked wonders yesterday. I personally believe that unless he had made a significant mistake Vettel would not have been able to pass him on track. He made only a few minor mistakes and that was it

Vettel - he drove well, he had a good start but that was pointless since Bottas' car outdragged him and left him no realistic hope of being able to make a move for the lead. I would have thought that in such a situation it would have been useful to try and undercut your rival but Ferrari chosse not to, IMHO they were caught by surprise by Mercdes and had to come up with that odd strategy that in the end proved pointless (but it's easy with hindsight). He made only a mistake towards the end of the race when he tried to go a bit deeper into braking at the chicane and even at relatively low speed his car lacked the front end grip to make such a move due to the fact that he was in dirty air, IMHO that sums up nicely the problems that every driver had to face yesterday, as soon as they were under 2 seconds from the car in front they lost a considerable amount of front end downforce

Raikkonen - he drove well, he proved that he is still might fast when he wants it, pity he doesn't seem to want it as badly as Vettel does, his first sting wasn't that great in fairness

Hamilton - it didn't look as if there was anything wrong with his car, his main problem seemed to be significant blistering on his front left tyre (and that it a significant issue), IMHO he didn't get the track and once he was behind kept on pushing and shot his tyres. After that he lost his willingness to fight (he probably knew that it would have been impossible to overtake Kimi unless Kimi made a significant mistake so why bother?)

Verstappen - I think that he drove well, he seemed to have everything under control, not bad when you consider how young he is

Perez - great first few corners from him, deserves a better car

Massa - I don't think that he held up Vettel on purpose, on the contrary I think that he gave him room but Vettel probably didn't realise it, it's good to see that he didn't take offence at Vettel's finger (and Vettel probably realised that he did something silly), I like his attitude, if only he could be more focused I think that he would achieve better results

[Sakae 0]

Esteban Ocon deserves honorable mentioning. Firstly, he is from Normandy. That counts! Secondly, as a relative rookie in a better car than Manor was (what, 10 or 13 starts for him), keeping with Perez is a good start for him, leaving many established drivers behind for one reason or another. I do not know why he ended 9 sec behind Perez, yet on the same lap but each driver has his unique set of circumstance. I expect him to grow well with experience. Good stuff.

[BradSpeedMan 6]

43 minutes ago, Sakae said:

Esteban Ocon deserves honorable mentioning. Firstly, he is from Normandy. That counts! Secondly, as a relative rookie in a better car than Manor was (what, 10 or 13 starts for him), keeping with Perez is a good start for him, leaving many established drivers behind for one reason or another. I do not know why he ended 9 sec behind Perez, yet on the same lap but each driver has his unique set of circumstance. I expect him to grow well with experience. Good stuff.

Definately my driver of the day!!!!! For reasons you have mentioned. Does'nt he now hold the record for something? Scored in the first full 4 races of his F1 career I think

[Publius Cornelius Scipio 0]

2 hours ago, Sakae said:

Esteban Ocon deserves honorable mentioning. Firstly, he is from Normandy. That counts! Secondly, as a relative rookie in a better car than Manor was (what, 10 or 13 starts for him), keeping with Perez is a good start for him, leaving many established drivers behind for one reason or another. I do not know why he ended 9 sec behind Perez, yet on the same lap but each driver has his unique set of circumstance. I expect him to grow well with experience. Good stuff.

agreed I think that he did well, his car is not the best and has a very strong team mate and I'd say that he doing fine

[Sakae 0]

This race was really something else. Take timed spread. 6 sec gap between P1 and P2, then 11 between P2 and P3, 36, 60... just first 5 drivers. With these cars you not need one big issue, just two or three small ones, and you see yourself sliding back on the grid. Hamilton 36 sec off pace, and no one is surprised? I thought that it was said that he can drive anything... just like some issues in 2014!

[maure 1]

I heard of Bottas. Good for him.