Russian Grand Prix - Sochi

[René]

Only one week after the Singapore night race the circus has moved to the Black Sea coast in Russia. All the races on this track so far have been won by Mercedes so it’s time for something else, preferably something red! And after Singapore, that doesn’t seem like such an unlikely scenario! According to Verstappen, this track isn’t very suitable for the Red Bull (they never reached a podium here) so the challenge needs to come from Ferrari to finally beat Mercedes on Russian soil.

And how nice would it be if Mr. Putin was somehow prevented from coming to the podium ceremony when Charles receives his winners trophy!

"Sorry, need to go. Something important came up..."

[Carl]

In the photo, Putin asserts that he not only doesn't have to wear a lanyard, but he made the runt on his right pay double

[robmarsh]

I thought Putin was in Japan playing scrumhalf for Russia

[mikael]

Democracy-issues aside, it would most likely have a large, positive impact on motor racing if it became typical that royals and head of states showed genuine interest and came to watch GP's. In Denmark, for example, I'm very sure that Prince Joachim's real, genuine interest in motorsport (and own exploits in classic racing, in a Lotus Cortina) has had a significant, positive impact on how it (motorsport) is viewed upon in general.

If the Emperor of Japan - or Prime Minister Abe - were regulars at the Japan GP - that would have a tremendous impact on the national perception of the sport. Unfortunately, they aren't.

[robmarsh]

Lovely pics Mikael but be careful what we wish for. We could end up having Boris Johnson and Donald Trump provide anemometer services at a couple of GPs!!

[chrisb]

great points chaps, Boris the bodger would always cry foul if someone they supported didn't win

as for the race, I have a feeling Mercedes need to apologise to Bottas and will 'allow' him to win, can't understand why I get disillusioned with the silver cars post Niki, miss that guy

[Carl]

I normally watch only Free Practice 2 and qualifying before the race itself, and sometimes fast forward the preliminaries or mute the sound whenever David Croft pontificates from the land of silliness. During FP2, he announced for no apparent reason that Kevin Magnussen started and finished 17th at Sochi in 2017, a clear signal that the confederacy of dunces was presiding.

Martin Brundle must have the occasional mental health weekend stipulated in his contract.



I hope Charles Leclerc leads from start to finish and shares the podium with Hulkenberg and Norris.

[Deleted]

Well... not so great after the recent successes.

Leclerc's consistent whining is beginning to grate a little.
Vettel, thoroughly shafted by the team.
Then the whole thing thrown away with a mechanical problem that gifted the race to Mercedes.

Albon had a decent drive though, and Perez.

[René]

That was a bit of a let down. It could have been a great fight between the Ferraris on medium tyres and a chasing Hamilton on softs.

Not sure what is going on at Ferrari but it seems Binotto and his team are trying too hard to keep a good working relationship between their drivers and now that is turning against them. Reality is Ferrari put all their cards on Vettel at first and he didn't deliver. Leclerc should have won Bahrein, only his second race for the team and he has become stronger and stronger ever since. Now the car is coming a bit more towards Seb but still Charles is faster but Seb has a lot more experience and knows an opportunity when it's there... and he can also act like he didn't hear at times. Explosive stuff!

Mercedes got the win on a plate but Lewis drove very good as always and Bottas was the perfect wing man. Congrats to them.

Solid race for Max and Alex Albon did a good job to bring it home in fifth after that crash in qualy. Says a lot about his mental strength, something Gasly seemed to struggle with.

[robmarsh]

I am not sure what Ferrari are trying to do at the moment except shoot themselves in the foot. I agree with both Joe and René. I just can't believe that Ferrari potentially comprised their race by letting Charles undercut Seb to the point where he lost five seconds which was basically given to Mercedes. Until Ferrari can consistently score one twos they should not try to be smart and manipulate race positions. I thought the way they pitted in Singapore was brilliant but Sochi was a balls up and I have lost respect for the race strategy team.

Personally I think that Ferrari could take a leaf out of the 1984 McLaren playbook. Lauda knew he could not beat Prost in qualifying but his experience and race pace would work in his favour at times. McLaren left them alone and got a one two in the championship. Ferrari must just let the two get on with it and not favour one over the other.

Personally I think that giving into Charles Leclerc as much as they are doing will ultimately break more than it will fix. That's my view anyhow.

[Jamie]

An interesting race for sure, a tactical headache for Ferrari and they managed to make a mess of it and allow Lewis in for the win. I don't like that people can pit under the safety car and gain such an advantage however....the pits need to be closed under those circumstances so the race is 'neutralised' in every way.

Despite the protestations, it must be tense in the Ferrari camp at the moment and I must admit that I kind of liked it when Seb went all 'Multi21' on them and kept pulling away when asked to step aside. Thats a man fighting to regain some semblance of authority within the team. I'm also enjoying how assertive Leclerc is but, and I completely agree with Joe here, he is getting a bit whinny for my liking.....he needs to tone that down a little IMO.

Move of the race was Albon on Gasly....great racing.

I'm looking forward to Suzuka in particular now......the championships are over so its all about getting some good races for the rest of the season. Wish list for me are podiums for Albon and Norris before seasons end.

[robmarsh]

Agree with everything Jamie.

[Carl]

Many valid points have been made so far by everyone. I agree with Jamie that the pits should be closed during safety car periods, as they are in Indy racing, and with Rob that Ferrari trips over its own feet when it attempts complication or even basic team rules. Poorly planned strategy can be as self-defeating as an arranged marriage and both drivers were clearly unhappy about who should lead. Young fans would be astonished to learn that drivers previously had to deal with tyres and track position all by themselves, with any team orders fully understood beforehand or conveyed during the race by pit board, which drivers sometimes would claim not to have seen. 

Alexander Albon's incredible outside pass of Pierre Gasly was the outstanding highlight of the race. As it often is, until the final pit stops the focus was entirely on tyres and more Grand Pirelli than Grand Prix. At that point, when the drivers could have turned their attention entirely to racing, standing orders at Mercedes compelled its subservient driver not to race. The despondence in Bottas' eyes as he stepped away from the post-race interview gave the lie to Toto Wolff's declaration earlier in the season, "We are all racers". Without the stark and demanding honesty of Niki Lauda, Wolff regresses to shameless lies.

I fast forwarded the last ten laps because nothing was going to change, including the confederacy of dunces in the broadcast booth.

[mikael]

Amazing how the Mercedes-Ferrari rivalry has picked up momentum. It's easy to wish for something like, "if only this had happened a bit earlier" - but of course, it's of no use to think like that. But the championship is almost a settled matter. Hamilton is now leading Leclerc with 107 points. (Bottas is in between, but that will not be an issue ...) With five races left, there are 25X5 + 1X5 = 130 points available, so to "steal" the championship, Leclerc would basically need to win all remaining five races, with Hamilton scoring less than 23 points. Not absolutely impossible, but still, ... If it happened the 2019 season would become a legend.

In other words, if Hamilton wins the next round, at Suzuka, he is World Champion (unofficially, since Bottas, theoretically and formally, is in the race a bit longer).

[mikael]

Just a thought:
The stress and strain the top drivers are subjected to is more clear when seen under the light of how much they are paid for their services. Assuming the list referred to below is (reasonably) correct, and assuming the drivers are paid per race(*), Hamilton is paid $2.7 million (USD) per race. Vettel is paid $2.1 mill. (per race) -- which, by the way, is 13 times the amount Leclerc is paid (again, assuming the list is correct). Seen in this this light, a driver's error is, in a sense, a catastrophe! (from the viewpoint of the driver himself, at any rate).

But it always seemed to me that, the bigger the pressure on Hamilton, the better he performs (at least in recent years).

Reference:
www.gpfans.com/en/articles/4026/formula-1-driver-salaries-2019/


(*) I know this is not the case, but it put things in better perspective.

Edit/addition: It is not my intention to, say, criticize Vettel. Absolutely not. I was just thinking out loud and pondering on the almost unreal salary of the top-of-the-top drivers. And since most of the drivers have an ordinary middle-class background, to get paid so generously must, again, add tremendously to the pressure to succeed any time out on the track.