Starting at the beginning, what happened on Lap 1 between Bottas and Hulk? Unfair. At least it was a long stop for Force India and then he was out. Then Lap 3, Button was suddenly 10th. How? By Lap 9, Race Control were investigating a lot with no action required anywhere. There was quite a bit of overtaking, although the cars look so tiny on the wide track, that shouldn't be a surprise. Then there were a few raised eyebrows coming up. Rosberg wasn't happy to be playing "the long game". Verstappen made an unscheduled pit stop: "I thought you boxed me, sorry". Followed by an engine failure for him, he definitely wouldn't be finishing 4th. This led to a Virtual Safety Car and an opportunity for the conspiracy theorists to take centre stage. Why did Verstappen park the car so as to cause a VSC if Ricciardo was not going to benefit from it? By Lap 39, Raikkonen had to stop his car coming out of the pits with a wheel potentially unattached. There were lots of bloopers during the race like this, including Ricciardo swearing about Rosberg. I wish I knew what he really said.
I finished the race wondering why Bottas couldn't have made up more places and enjoying Alonso's "yeeha"!
Tuesday 25 October 2016
US GP - Results
1. The Pitstop Princess - 1,051*
2. The Weak End of Bernie - 1.020*
3. Merc-redible Hulk - 939*
4. Halo, it's me - 927*
5. Hippy F1 - 880*
6. Claire has to type out this sentence each time as my team name - 877*
7. The Hopefuls - 745*
8. No Vices Now - 733*
9. The Maranello Marvels - 674*
10. Marian's Marvels - 641*
11.British Racing Green - 552*
12. Indiana Walker and the Tyres of Doom - 476
13. Put out to Pastor - 348*
*Home track played
2. The Weak End of Bernie - 1.020*
3. Merc-redible Hulk - 939*
4. Halo, it's me - 927*
5. Hippy F1 - 880*
6. Claire has to type out this sentence each time as my team name - 877*
7. The Hopefuls - 745*
8. No Vices Now - 733*
9. The Maranello Marvels - 674*
10. Marian's Marvels - 641*
11.British Racing Green - 552*
12. Indiana Walker and the Tyres of Doom - 476
13. Put out to Pastor - 348*
*Home track played
Monday 10 October 2016
Japan GP - "one in the land of the rising sun"
Well, that was a cracking race. The best of the season in my humble opinion.
I started off feeling chipper about it as Raikkonen overtook Vettel in the championship points in Malaysia, which feels like justice. I really enjoyed Sky's focus on the Japanese fans and all their costumes and accessories. Could it get any better? Hamilton's poor start!
However, it all went out the window when I realised that Williams were running 13th and 14th.
There were so many twists and turns: Hulkenberg's "see you later", Ricciardo's long stop, all the whinging about blue flags and no retirements! Mercedes won the constructors championship but that was a given.
What followed the race was awkward. No one spoke in the cool down room. It would be easy to poke fun at Kai Ebel but we give the world Eddie Jordan. Hamilton swerved the question about his start - did he think we would forget?
Rosberg has now won 9 races, no one who has won this many has not gone on to win the championship...
I started off feeling chipper about it as Raikkonen overtook Vettel in the championship points in Malaysia, which feels like justice. I really enjoyed Sky's focus on the Japanese fans and all their costumes and accessories. Could it get any better? Hamilton's poor start!
However, it all went out the window when I realised that Williams were running 13th and 14th.
There were so many twists and turns: Hulkenberg's "see you later", Ricciardo's long stop, all the whinging about blue flags and no retirements! Mercedes won the constructors championship but that was a given.
What followed the race was awkward. No one spoke in the cool down room. It would be easy to poke fun at Kai Ebel but we give the world Eddie Jordan. Hamilton swerved the question about his start - did he think we would forget?
Rosberg has now won 9 races, no one who has won this many has not gone on to win the championship...
Japan GP - Results
1. Weak End of Bernie - 969*
2. The Pitstop Princess - 937
3. Merc-redible Hulk - 882*
4. Halo, it's me - 876*
5. Hippy F1 - 832*
6. Claire has to type out this sentence each time as my team name - 820*
7. No Vices Now - 709*
8. The Hopefuls - 701*
9. The Maranello Marvels - 658*
10. Marian's Marvels - 606*
11. British Racing Green - 505*
12. Indiana Walker and the Tyres of Doom - 437
13. Put out to Pastor - 320*
* Home track played
2. The Pitstop Princess - 937
3. Merc-redible Hulk - 882*
4. Halo, it's me - 876*
5. Hippy F1 - 832*
6. Claire has to type out this sentence each time as my team name - 820*
7. No Vices Now - 709*
8. The Hopefuls - 701*
9. The Maranello Marvels - 658*
10. Marian's Marvels - 606*
11. British Racing Green - 505*
12. Indiana Walker and the Tyres of Doom - 437
13. Put out to Pastor - 320*
* Home track played
Monday 3 October 2016
Malaysia GP - "I think we did bloody good"
It was a hideous start to the race all round. Massa lost his throttle on the grid (did he check in the glovebox?). Then there was the crazy long lights to go. Next Vettel tapped Rosberg, prompting Put out Pastor to comment: "Well, that's Hamilton's race" and Verstappen to comment "Vettel is crazy". I remember when Vettel used to do the Crazy Frog song.
Haas had amazing grid places, then Gutierrez got a puncture, before going out on Lap 42 with a lost tyre and Grosjean failed. There were big disappointments all round. Massa also got a puncture in Lap 7. Ocon sped in the pits, twice.
Better news for McLaren, Alonso made up a spectacular 12 places in 4 laps. Perhaps AlonsoCam should be a red button option.
The race really came alive in Lap 39 with Rosberg and Raikkonen battling, then Ricciardo and Verstappen. Two laps later there were high fives on our sofa as Hamilton caught fire. Toto had his head in his hands, we heard Hamilton on the radio and we did then feel a little sorry for him. Two laps more and Rosberg was awarded a 10 second penalty for absolutely nothing.
The final, honorable mention should go to Jolyon Palmer performing badly in a mediocre car finally getting his first F1 point.
So for the first time in living memory, we have an F1 weekend where Mercedes didn't dominate. Here's hoping for a fantastic final five races.
Haas had amazing grid places, then Gutierrez got a puncture, before going out on Lap 42 with a lost tyre and Grosjean failed. There were big disappointments all round. Massa also got a puncture in Lap 7. Ocon sped in the pits, twice.
Better news for McLaren, Alonso made up a spectacular 12 places in 4 laps. Perhaps AlonsoCam should be a red button option.
The race really came alive in Lap 39 with Rosberg and Raikkonen battling, then Ricciardo and Verstappen. Two laps later there were high fives on our sofa as Hamilton caught fire. Toto had his head in his hands, we heard Hamilton on the radio and we did then feel a little sorry for him. Two laps more and Rosberg was awarded a 10 second penalty for absolutely nothing.
The final, honorable mention should go to Jolyon Palmer performing badly in a mediocre car finally getting his first F1 point.
So for the first time in living memory, we have an F1 weekend where Mercedes didn't dominate. Here's hoping for a fantastic final five races.
Malaysia GP - Results
1. Weak End of Bernie - 911*
2. The Pitstop Princess - 877
3. Merc-redible Hulk - 836*
4. Halo, it's me - 835*
5. Hippy F1 - 799*
6. Claire has to type out this sentence each time as my team name - 777*
7. Beauty & the F1 Geek - 776*
8. BogOffBernie - 767*
9. Three teams, one dream - 761*
10. The Hopefuls - 676*
11. No Vices Now - 666*
12. The Maranello Marvels - 620*
13. Marian's Marvels - 526
14. British Racing Green - 473*
15. Indiana Walker and the Tyres of Doom - 400
16. Put out to Pastor - 292*
*Home track played
2. The Pitstop Princess - 877
3. Merc-redible Hulk - 836*
4. Halo, it's me - 835*
5. Hippy F1 - 799*
6. Claire has to type out this sentence each time as my team name - 777*
7. Beauty & the F1 Geek - 776*
8. BogOffBernie - 767*
9. Three teams, one dream - 761*
10. The Hopefuls - 676*
11. No Vices Now - 666*
12. The Maranello Marvels - 620*
13. Marian's Marvels - 526
14. British Racing Green - 473*
15. Indiana Walker and the Tyres of Doom - 400
16. Put out to Pastor - 292*
*Home track played
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