Russian Grand Prix: Lewis Putin it to the rest!

Due to travelling commitments I, The F1 Spectator, have been unable to see the race or write my usual blog. As a result I have asked a guest blogger, the aptly named F1 Watcher, to fill in for me. So here goes...

Being asked to be The F1 Spectator's guest blogger, I knew was never going to be an easy job. The first race since Jules Bianchi's accident was always going to be especially tough, his car still sat in the garage waiting for his return. I think I agree with Martin Brundle that the photo call with Bianchi's name in front of the drivers should have been done earlier and not five minutes before the start. This would have allowed the drivers to focus on the driving, to ensure their safety. That said, I respect the tribute to their colleague.


So the cars set up, ready to go, and what a start we were treated to! Cars were everywhere. At times they were three abreast in only a small space of track. Many cars left the track, overrunning corners and generally running out of space. It was such a shame to see Rosberg go too fast too soon, locking up heavily and wrecking his tyres. It would have been nice to see more of a fight between the two Mercedes drivers. Another exciting moment, through the opening laps, was when the two Red Bulls and the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat had a brief fight, almost touching each other.


As the Grand Prix unfolded there were a few more bits of good racing, but to be fair this was not turning out to be the most exciting of races. Rosberg did well to move right up through the pack, only having to overtake a few cars, most of the overtaking being done through the pit stops. Massa appeared to be making progress through the field, however, like Ricciardo, he fell back down the order. The Mercedes radio transmissions were nice and calm, which makes a change from Hamilton moaning. There was a transmission from Rosberg saying his tyres were graining and Hamilton jumped in, just after, saying how good his tyres were. When asked if Rosberg could go to the end of the race with only one stop, he replied "yes all good", and proceeded to contradict the question by adding "well they are good at the moment". Sutil had a spin after touching Grosjean and only just managed to miss the wall. After the incidents of last weekend, I did wonder what was going through his mind?

The new track had very much an Indy car feel, maybe because it was quite narrow and enclosed. Interestingly, the track surface stayed very clean, with hardly any marbles to make the drive difficult. Congratulations must go to Mercedes on winning the Constructor's Championship. Despite their dominance being a little boring, at times, they have fully deserved their success this season. We just have to hope it stays close now, for the Driver's Championship.

Thank you to The F1 Spectator, for selecting me to write the blog this week. I look forward to reading the blog after the next race.

The Result:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	53	1:31:50.744	1	25
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	53	+13.6 secs	2	18
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	53	+17.4 secs	3	15
4	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	53	+30.2 secs	4	12
5	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	53	+53.6 secs	11	10
6	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	53	+60.0 secs	7	8
7	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	53	+61.8 secs	6	6
8	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	53	+66.1 secs	10	4
9	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	53	+78.8 secs	8	2
10	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	53	+80.0 secs	12	1
11	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	53	+80.8 secs	18
12	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	53	+81.3 secs	17
13	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	53	+97.2 secs	9
14	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	52	+1 Lap	5
15	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	52	+1 Lap	13
16	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	52	+1 Lap	14
17	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	52	+1 Lap	15
18	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	52	+1 Lap	21
19	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham-Renault	51	+2 Laps	16
Ret	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham-Renault	21	Brakes	19
Ret	4	Max Chilton	Marussia-Ferrari	9	Retired	20

German Grand Prix: Head over heels at Hockenheim!

Yet again, we were treated to an explosive race start. Felipe Massa, made an error of judgement, that resulted in him ending up on his roof. Massa made the decision that, in to the first corner, it was alright that he throw his car in to apex, even though Magnussen was driving there. His Williams was flipped over and sent sliding along the run off area, upside down. It resulted in a red flag, but the fact that Massa walked away unscathed is a testament to the strength of F1 roll hoops.

The racing was on top form again this weekend, which was aided by the success of the two DRS zones. It was the perfect balance between making the passing a little easier and yet still requiring the drivers to work. One thing that didn't work quite so well, again, and with all due respect, was the race marshalling. The handling of Sutil's spin and subsequent stranded Sauber on the start/finish straight, just felt a little chaotic. At the pinnacle of motorsport and in a sport that can be so unpredictably dangerous, I have to say that I think the practice of having voluntary, relatively unqualified marshals is dated and irresponsible. Time and time again, it is all too apparent that the race marshals are a little under prepared, for the incidents they have to deal with. Isn't it about time that these generous heroes are given the adequate training to deal with such a responsible and, let's face it, 'life or death' determining role.

As for the Driver Of The Day, I might as well award it now, so that I can then elaborate on the simply stunning race that Lewis Hamilton had. I don't think it would be inappropriate for me to say that, at times, Lewis' driving was Senna-esque. An example of this would be his fearlessly daring move on Fernando Alonso, in to the very corner that he experienced brake failure on, just the day before. Not to mention the fact that he started in twentieth on the grid and finished third and on the podium. It poses the question, how important is qualifying, for the top drivers? They can qualify at the back of the field and still finish on the podium.

A couple of drivers were a bit naughty today, whilst others showed their inexperience. Daniel Kvyat had a lapse in judgement as he squeezed Perez on to the apex, on a part of the track where a more experienced driver would have provided their competitor adequate room. Sutil did a similar thing to Lewis Hamilton, but in quite a suspect manner, since Hamilton had moved well up the inside of Adrian's Sauber, and Adrian appeared to be looking directly at Lewis' Mercedes, as he turned in. Nobody else picked up on it, but after regularly witnessing F1 driver's quick wits, like Massa in Silverstone, it's difficult to excuse Sutil's delayed action in turning his car away from the passing Hamilton. One thing that was refreshing, was to hear attitude travelling in the opposite direction across the team radio, with Perez's race engineer sounding more like a headmaster than a strategist, "I won't tell you again Sergio, lift and coast." It's about time the teams laid down the law, to some of these headstrong employees.

If I had to pick a moment of the race, it would be Ferrari's attempt to bully Sebastian Vettel. He exited the pits, a flying bull between two prancing horses, and found himself being harassed by Fernando Alonso behind him and Kimi Raikonnen ushering him to the track edge, from the front. He threw caution to the wind and, touching the grass, shot around the outside of Kimi. He then squeezed the two boisterous Ferraris together and then raced away. It's great when these races tell a story, complete with twists and turns, heroes and villains.


Check out The F1 Spectator's German GP podcast and listen to The F1 Spectator himself.
The Result:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	67	1:33:42.914	1	25
2	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	67	+20.7 secs	2	18
3	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	67	+22.5 secs	20	15
4	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	67	+44.0 secs	6	12
5	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	67	+52.4 secs	7	10
6	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	67	+52.5 secs	5	8
7	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	67	+64.1 secs	9	6
8	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	67	+84.7 secs	11	4
9	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	66	+1 Lap	4	2
10	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	66	+1 Lap	10	1
11	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	66	+1 Lap	12
12	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	66	+1 Lap	18
13	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	66	+1 Lap	13
14	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	66	+1 Lap	16
15	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Ferrari	66	+1 Lap	17
16	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham-Renault	65	+2 Laps	19
17	4	Max Chilton	Marussia-Ferrari	65	+2 Laps	21
18	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham-Renault	65	+2 Laps	22
Ret	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	47	Spin	15
Ret	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	44	+23 Laps	8
Ret	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	26	+41 Laps	14
Ret	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	0	Accident	3

British Grand Prix: pushing it to the 'track' limit...

We had a bit of a false start to the British Grand Prix this year and it was all as a result of a scary moment for Kimi Raikonnen. As the cars came through Aintree corner, on the first lap, Raikonnen was seen flying wide and then cutting back on to the track. As he did so, he hit a bump in the grass and dramatically lost the back end of the car. He hit the Armco very hard, so hard in fact that the steel barrier was damaged and so badly that its subsequent repair was the reason the race was red flagged and delayed for over an hour. Kimi's Ferrari was thrown back across the circuit, with almost everyone, unbelievably, managing to avoid him.

One driver who didn't manage to avoid him, but did take evasive action, which may well have saved Kimi's life, was Filipe Massa. This is a bold statement, but I believe Massa's actions were heroic, as he spotted Raikonnen's wreck shooting across the circuit, and put his own car in to a spin. It meant that the impact was greatly reduced and Kimi was able to limp away, instead of the unthinkable alternative. David Coulthard summed up Filipe's actions perfectly, when he said "A lesser driver may have barrelled in to that incident". T-boning Raikonnen's Ferrari may have had fatal consequences and for that reason Massa's actions are to be commended. Similarly, it is interesting to note that the first thing Kimi said, as the marshals reached his stricken car, was "Is Filipe okay?"

Once again, Silverstone race organisers showed their utter inability to deal with an unforeseen incident, in an efficient and timely manner. Every year there seems to be drama at Silverstone, in regards to the running of the event. This is a circuit that is massively overrated, poorly designed and badly organised, and yet, somehow, it manages to survive the annual F1 calendar decision making process. Niki Lauda was interviewed by the BBC and asked about the delay in the restart of the race. He was adamant in his claim that the organisers had wasted their time attempting to repair the barrier, because there was almost zero chance that an incident would occur against that very section, during the remainder of the race. I, for one, wouldn't argue with Niki Lauda on the grounds of F1 safety.

The main body of the race was fairly tedious, although it was interesting to see Nico Rosberg suffer a gearbox failure, gifting the race win to Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton, once again, raced impeccably and obviously pleased the British fans. However, it would have been nicer to see Jenson Button up on the podium and he came so close, displaying surprising race pace, in a characteristically slow McLaren. Two drivers who gave us a real show, despite both cheating and repeatedly driving over the track limitations, were Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. It was amusing to listen to the tit-for-tat over the team radios, as first Fernando complained about Sebastian's excursions, closely followed by Sebastian arguing the same point regarding Fernando's little indiscretions.

Driver Of The Day is an easy decision this weekend. Bottas, the only remaining Williams driver after Massa's collision with Raikonnen, had an unbelievable race. He started from sixteenth on the grid and achieved a podium finish, standing on the second step. I had genuinely written off Williams this weekend, but Bottas was fantastic and showed just how much the team has grown and improved this season.

I was slightly taken aback when Lewis Hamilton criticised his Santander winner's trophy. Then I remembered that he doesn't have to suck up to that particular sponsor anymore. I'm sure that if Petronas ever sponsor a race and provide a trophy based on their logo, then Mr Hamilton will be full of praise for its unique design.


Check out The F1 Spectator's podcast and listen to The F1 Spectator himself.

The Result:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	52	2:26:52.094	6	25
2	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	52	+30.1 secs	14	18
3	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	52	+46.4 secs	8	15
4	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	52	+47.3 secs	3	12
5	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	52	+53.8 secs	2	10
6	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	52	+59.9 secs	16	8
7	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	52	+62.5 secs	5	6
8	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	52	+88.6 secs	4	4
9	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	52	+89.3 secs	9	2
10	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	51	+1 Lap	10	1
11	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	51	+1 Lap	7
12	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	51	+1 Lap	11
13	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	51	+1 Lap	13
14	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Ferrari	51	+1 Lap	12
15	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham-Renault	50	+2 Laps	22
16	4	Max Chilton	Marussia-Ferrari	50	+2 Laps	17
17	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	49	Exhaust	20
Ret	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	28	Gearbox	1
Ret	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham-Renault	11	Suspension damage	21
Ret	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	9	Accident	19
Ret	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	0	Accident	15
Ret	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	0	Accident	18