Outright Lap Record: Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 2018 | 1:07.281
Most Driver Wins: Michael Schumacher | 1994, 1995, 2000, 2002
Most Constructor Wins: Ferrari | 1976, 1977, 1990, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2017
The Weather
The Quotes
Lewis Hamilton | “When people talk about history, it just doesn’t fully resonate at the moment. But at some stage I’m sure it will.”
Alexander Albon | “To get the call-up originally after Hungary, it was quite a daunting prospect really. But I felt like I could do something and, to be honest, the races that I’ve had, I have been pretty happy with. To get the final call to tell me that I’m staying for next year, it feels really good.”
Sebastian Vettel | “Somehow there’s always drama here. There’s always something happening, it’s quite unpredictable.”
Valtteri Bottas | “If I can perform at the level I want to, that tends to upset the other side of the garage a little bit, and I know being on the other side as well it can lead you to mistakes. I have a plan for next year but I am really not willing to share it so we will find out.”
Nico Hülkenberg | “Next year I will not be on the grid. I will not retire as a driver. But, for now, it will be a year without running. I don’t know what will happen in the future, I’m not in a hurry. I don’t see myself as a test pilot.”
A fine drive from Valtteri Bottas meant he took his seventh victory in Formula 1 at the 2019 United States Grand Prix but it wasn’t enough to deny Lewis Hamilton his sixth world championship.
After a poor Saturday – certainly by his high standards – Hamilton started fifth on the grid but produced a champion’s performance on race day. Clearly determined to make amends, Hamilton had passed both Ferraris within a matter of seconds as they struggled to turn on their tyres, including a particularly impressive move around the outside of Sebastian Vettel through Turn Eight. Bottas held a comfortable lead throughout the first stint with Max Verstappen and Hamilton a few seconds back.
Red Bull triggered the first pit stops with an attempted undercut on lap 13 and Mercedes responded with Bottas, both drivers now on a likely two-stop strategy. This left Hamilton to go long and attempt another now-somewhat-trademark ‘tyre whisperer’ massage session in order to make a one-stop work. He stopped on lap 24, leaving him 32 laps to eke out of his hard tyres.
Bottas pitted on lap 35 and rejoined six seconds behind Hamilton. He initially closed on his teammate quickly but, when the tyre differential had reduced slightly and backmarkers began to come into play, the drivers appeared to be in something of a stalemate. With the remaining laps ticking down, it looked as though Hamilton was on the verge of repeating his feat from a week ago in Mexico and making a contra strategy work perfectly. But in the end Bottas’s fresher tyres were enough and, after a good battle with some strong defence from Hamilton, the Finn took the lead with four laps to spare. Verstappen, who had also been steadily closing in, was foiled by yellow flags from Kevin Magnussen’s stricken Haas in the last couple of laps and was unable to pass.
Bottas took the chequered flag to claim his fourth victory of the year and, in doing so, showed that he can maintain some momentum after the summer break, where in years gone by his challenge has faded. But it was still not enough and Hamilton took second place and an unbelievable sixth World Championship with two races to spare.
Image credit: Formula 1
Further back, Vettel’s rear suspension had dramatically failed early on; the German doing well to keep his suddenly three-wheeled Ferrari pointing in the right direction before pulling over in a convenient spot. His teammate, Charles Leclerc, had a slightly better afternoon but a pretty lonely one and came home a distant fourth. Sceptics – including Max Verstappen, who was even quoted as saying “that’s what happens when you stop cheating” – are already suggesting that the recent FIA clarification of technical rules regarding power units has impacted Ferrari’s performance.
One race is too early to make those of kind of sweeping assumptions. This was not a track layout that ever looked to particularly favour Ferrari’s package and there main issue appeared to be with the tyre temperatures. The next race in Brazil will likely be similar so let’s all try and reserve judgement until the season finale in Abu Dhabi. If their clear straight-line speed advantage has disappeared there, then maybe we can all consider grabbing our pitchforks and/or tin foil hats.
Alexander Albon recovered well to fifth after a first corner incident. We have still barely seen the Anglo-Thai in a straight fight with teammate Verstappen since his swap to Red Bull but he has continued to put in solid performances in the unenviable position of joining a team mid-way through your rookie season and being matched up against the flying Dutchman.
Image credit: DPPI
Behind him, Daniel Ricciardo narrowly held off a charging Lando Norris for sixth place after the young Briton had taken a late pitstop and charged back through the field from 10th. It was a better weekend for McLaren – with Carlos Sainz following his teammate home in seventh – after Mexico where a pit stop error cost Norris and there was the mystery of Sainz’s lack of pace on the hard tyre.
Also, a quick mention for Sergio Perez who claimed a points-paying position having started in the pit lane, even with Daniil Kvyat producing another desperate final lap divebomb just seven days after doing the same to Nico Hülkenberg. This one earned him a penalty too. The Torpedo is back to torpedo-ing. Is he costing himself a seat at Toro Rosso next year? Sorry, make that Alpha Tauri…or whatever they’re called.
Lewis Hamilton: Six-Time World Champion
Image credit: Getty Images
Hamilton was already undeniably in the pantheon of the greats. But he is now closing in on staking a strong claim to be the best driver in the history of the sport.
A sixth world championship moves him clear of the great Juan Manuel Fangio and just one behind the record seven titles of Michael Schumacher. He is also now closing in on most of Schumacher’s various other records. 83 wins compared to Schumacher’s 91, 150 podiums compared to 155. If all seasons are converted to having the current points system, Hamilton is now at 3788 with Schumacher having taken a total of 3961. These are records that could easily change hands in the next 12 months.
The world champion’s prowess over a single lap in qualifying has long been known and he already stands far out on his own when it comes to the record for pole positions. But more recently, and particularly this season, he has shown he is just as good on a Sunday. As previously mentioned, he is now infamous for his tyre management. Mercedes Technical Director James Allison, who has worked with many greats including Schumacher himself, described Hamilton’s “instinctive ability” when it comes to the subtle technicalities of racing – such as tyre management and fuel conservation – as “remarkable” and has spoken of the “metronomic consistency of his race performances all year”.
Hamilton really does have very few – if any – weaknesses these days. After the season, I plan to do a post truly comparing him to the previous greats but, for the moment, let’s just appreciate that we have seen a fantastic driver further cement his legend and move closer to what had previously appeared to be unassailable records.
Congratulations, Lewis. The lad from Stevenage done good.
The United States Grand Prix in 60 Seconds
Answering the Burning Questions
Can Hamilton wrap up the title? Of course he did.
…When Hamilton wraps up the title, will there be any impressive theatrics from the Americans/Liberty? There was a parking spot but that was about it. Maybe the champion being lifted up to the podium last weekend in Mexico would have been more fitting.
With its varied layout, which car will COTA suit the best? Red Bull gave a good charge but Mercedes appeared to just have the edge for most of the weekend.
Can Verstappen stop his recent run of mishaps? There was a small bit of contact at the first corner, and later on with a kerb, that caused minor damage but it was a strong weekend overall.
…When Hamilton wraps up the title, will there be any impressive theatrics from the Americans/Liberty?
With its varied layout, which car will COTA suit the best?
Can Verstappen stop his recent run of mishaps?
Chances of another Kimi win?..
The Track
The Stats
Track Length: 5.513 km
Laps: 56
Race Distance: 308.405 km
First Grand Prix: 2012 (Austin) | 1959 (US) | 1950 (US incl. Indy 500)
Race Lap Record: Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 2018 | 1:37.392
Outright Lap Record: Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 2018 | 1:32.237
Most Driver Wins: Lewis Hamilton | 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Most Constructor Wins: Mercedes | 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
The Weather
The Quotes
Lewis Hamilton | “I never thought I would have five titles. If I am able to get a sixth one, it will be pretty unreal. I don’t think I’ve hit peak yet and I plan to continue to get stronger.”
Max Verstappen | “I like to fight hard but on the edge. If they want me to stay behind, it’s better to stay at home. I really want to take the fight to them because that’s what we are here for. We fight for victories because that’s what we live for.”
Kimi Räikkönen | “I think even if we are 10 seconds slower, for people to watch the races, if it’s more exciting nobody cares. Every year the times are slightly different.”
Daniil Kvyat | “This is a nice place to go racing, there’s a good atmosphere from the fans at the track and I think all the drivers appreciate the city of Austin itself, so we like going there.”
Ferrari mess up a 1-2, Hamilton wins, Lando’s luckless, water is wet.
Image credit: Daimler AG
Lewis Hamilton came away with a surprise win at the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix after Mercedes had struggled through Friday and Saturday on a track that has not been kind to them in recent years.
Max Verstappen had initially taken pole position but was given a three-place grid penalty for ignoring yellow flags after Valtteri Bottas’s nasty crash in the dying seconds of Q3, which left the Finn winded. It was a needless penalty to risk as Verstappen already had pole secured through his previous flying lap but the Dutchman appeared characteristically unrepentant in the press conference.
So a fired-up Verstappen on race day was something of an inevitability. Last year, that approach won him the race; this year, it did not.
Hamilton made a good start but was squeezed onto the grass by Sebastian Vettel – in previous years that may well have earned him a penalty but not with the current approach by the stewards – and that left him with Verstappen on his inside into Turn One. They nearly touched, Verstappen following Vettel’s lead by also squeezing Hamilton to the edge of the track. Hamilton then got a big slap of oversteer and failed to make the corner, leaving Verstappen nowhere to go except joining him on the grass.
The pair recovered to fifth and eighth but Verstappen’s opportunistic move on Bottas in the stadium section resulted in a puncture and a long trip back to the pits.
At the front, it would become a tale of divergent strategies.
Charles Leclerc had retained the lead at the start and led until pitting on lap 15, committing to a two-stop strategy. Alexander Albon would also be pitting twice, having stopped a lap earlier, but the rest of the leaders would go with what transpired to be the faster option of the one-stop.
Mercedes, for once, decided to go with the undercut for Hamilton and pitted him on lap 23, leaving Vettel and Bottas to go much further. The world champion feared they had pitted too early as his two rivals continued on and on at a decent pace. But it turned out to be the perfect move.
After Bottas and Vettel pitted on laps 36 and 37 respectively, and Leclerc came in for his second stop on lap 43, Hamilton appeared to be in trouble – easy prey for the chasing pack. Vettel had 14-lap-younger tyres and his teammate was closing the gap by a second a lap. It looked set for a showdown in the last few laps, as all four drivers converged, but Hamilton had preserved his tyres perfectly and was able to hold his challengers at arm’s length – two seconds in F1 terms – to the chequered flag.
Ultimately, it was a slow-burner of a race that looked ready to explode but the fuse went out just before reaching the fireworks.
Nonetheless, it was a very satisfying win for the Briton and his Mercedes team at a race from which they did not expect a lot. And one that takes him to the very brink of the title. If either he takes at least four points or Bottas doesn’t win next weekend then he is guaranteed a sixth World Championship. Even with a likely coronation, the Americans will have to go some to beat the Mexican post-race ceremony, which featured the race-winning car and driver appearing from below the stage à la Beyoncé…
Is the Old Verstappen Back?
Many spent the first half of this year waxing lyrical about how Max Verstappen had finally matured and it certainly did appear that way. But was it true?
Since the summer break, Verstappen has been on a run not too far from the one he had in early 2018, with first corner incidents at four of the last six races. Certainly, he was blameless in Japan and unfortunate here, but he is back to just always seeming to be involved in something and that often comes down to where a driver is positioning their car.
The move on Bottas was overambitious and clearly hot-headed as, even without the contact, he was just giving Bottas DRS and a tow down the straight immediately after. And on his way back through the field, there was also a slightly clumsy move on Magnussen, followed by overtaking the Dane whilst off the circuit – there doesn’t seem to have been any explanation as to why this wasn’t penalised.
It is that red mist and seeming lack of foresight that he will need to improve upon if he ends up in a genuine title fight in the next couple of seasons. Not lifting whilst passing the scene of Bottas’s crash on Saturday was potentially excusable, due to the lack of the electronic yellow flags, but his demeanour when asked about it was belligerent and arrogant.
The ‘Orange Army’ are quick to remind that he is still only 22 but should five seasons of F1 experience not trump that?
Image credit: Motorsport Images
Meanwhile, on the other side of the garage, the slightly older but much less experienced Albon had another solid race. And he has now outscored Verstappen in their time together by 46 points to 27.
His pace is getting stronger as he acclimatises to car and team, as shown by matching Verstappen’s qualifying time to the thousandth of a second in Suzuka. He didn’t look overawed whilst battling with the big names this weekend, maintaining third position in front of Hamilton for the first stint in Mexico, and he is making an increasingly compelling case to be kept on for the Red Bull seat in 2020.
Pérez Sends the Home Crowd Wild
I mean, he always does – all he has to do is drive through the stadium section without putting the car in the wall – but rightly so this weekend with a strong drive to seventh and ‘best of the rest’.
Sergio Pérez and Daniel Ricciardo fought hard for that unofficial honour in the final few laps as the Australian closed in on new, softer tyres but he was unable to pull off a trademark divebomb, locking up and running over the grass into Turn One.
Image credit: Renault
There was some further drama behind them as, during their battle over the final two points positions, Daniil Kvyat punted Nico Hülkenberg into the barriers at the very final corner. The German limped over the finish line with no rear wing and the Russian was given a penalty that dropped him to 11th and promoted his teammate, Pierre Gasly, to ninth.
It was a poor day for McLaren who, having been running fourth and sixth early on, found themselves pointless at the chequered flag. Lando Norris’s appalling luck continued as a pit stop error left him stranded at the end of the pit lane with a loose wheel. And Carlos Sainz just had no pace once on the hard tyre, was forced to stop again, and gradually faded into obscurity, finishing 13th. They’ll hope to be back mixing it with the big teams in Texas.
The Mexican Grand Prix in 60 Seconds
Answering the Burning Questions
Can Lewis Hamilton clinch the world title this weekend? Not quite. But it’s as good as done, barring any kind of 2007-esque cataclysm.
Or can Valtteri Bottas use the momentum of his win in Japan to take the challenge to his teammate? Not really. It could have been worse after that Q3 crash, though.
Which car will deal with the low altitude best? Hard to say. A 1-3 for Mercedes but Ferrari were very strong and who knows what Verstappen could have achieved?
Will there be any more drama between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen? Leclerc was one of the few drivers that Verstappen didn’t end up in some kind of drama with.
With thunderstorms forecast over the weekend, could we have our first wet Mexican race? Nope. It poured every evening though… Typical.
Lewis Hamilton | “Mexico is generally our worst race of the year because of the way our car is set up and it’s going to be a tough one for us.”
Sebastian Vettel | “Over the past couple of years, we have been on an upward trend in Mexico, although Red Bull has been the team to beat. But I think the gaps between us are getting smaller, so let’s see how we get on this year.”
Toto Wolff | “The four remaining races are not going to be easy and we expect Mexico to be the most difficult.”
Mattia Binotto | “After two races in which we could have done better, we arrive in Mexico determined to win. We will be aiming for our sixth consecutive pole, before looking to convert that into victory.”
Sergio Pérez | “Racing in Mexico is the highlight of the season for me. When I see the busy grandstands, I feel very proud and the support from the people is fantastic.”
Daniel Ricciardo | “I love that they have Mariachi bands everywhere.”
Some questionable strategy but, nevertheless, Mercedes are champions.
With Ferrari finding new and ever more inventive ways to capitulate, Valtteri Bottas came home a comfortable winner at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix and sealed the Constructors’ Championship for Mercedes. The result also confirmed that only Bottas or his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, can now win the Drivers’ Championship so that is a record six consecutive world championship doubles for the Silver Arrows.
Whilst some may be tired of the recent domination within the sport, you have to admire the consistency with which the team operate. It is worth remembering that we are witnessing history in the making. In the future, people will surely point back to arguably now the greatest team the sport has ever known. The efficiency with which the German marque is renowned came to the fore at the beginning of the hybrid era in 2014 and the relentless Mercedes machine has rumbled on ever since, crushing all in its path.
It is a shame that Niki Lauda is not around to see them break the record as he was so instrumental in that success. He played a crucial role in convincing Hamilton to join the team and, together with team principal Toto Wolff, formed a fantastic management team. Touchingly, Lauda was remembered by his infamous red cap in the celebratory photos.
As for the race itself, there is a fair amount to discuss.
Typhoon Hagibis swept through the area on Saturday and produced the rarity of a Sunday morning qualifying session. Having looked considerably off the pace in Friday’s practice sessions, Ferrari produced a surprise front row lock-out, with Sebastian Vettel outqualifying his teammate, Charles Leclerc, for the first time since June to take pole position.
However, Ferrari’s joy was to be short-lived as three hours later, at the race start, everything rapidly fell apart.
Image credit: Getty Images
Vettel produced what appeared to be a false start. It would eventually prove to be legal, due to the peculiarities of the regulations and the sensors. Despite moving before the lights went out, Vettel stayed within the confines of his grid slot and, because he braked instantly, was stationary when they did. Thus, it was a legal start.
But not a good one.
Whether distracted by this teammate or not, Leclerc also got away poorly and Bottas was comfortably leading by the first corner. Hamilton had nowhere to go but Max Verstappen had his eyes on third and set about storming around the outside. Leclerc, however, understeered into him and wrecked the Dutchman’s race – he would retire from the damage on lap 17. Leclerc survived but with damage to his front wing. He pitted on Lap 3, after showering those behind him with bits of carbon fire, and spent the rest of the race fighting back through the field.
The front three of Bottas, Vettel and Hamilton broke away from the pack and it became apparent that strategy would be key. The Ferraris had been suffering with their tyres more and expected to two-stop, whilst Mercedes were aiming for just the one.
Vettel was first to blink on lap 16 and Mercedes responded by pitting Bottas the following lap. Hamilton was left out with the intention of one-stopping but this was always going to be tricky as Saturday’s typhoon had washed the track clean of rubber and left it very ‘green’. The tyres, already damaged by following Vettel, degraded quickly and Hamilton found himself almost a pit stop behind Bottas in the space of a few laps; the world champion was soon on the radio, agitated and confused by his strategy.
The particularly confusing decision by Mercedes, however, was when they bailed out of the one-stop and pitted Hamilton with 10 laps remaining. Passing the Ferrari of Vettel – with its significant straight-line speed – combined with the layout of Suzuka, was always going to be a tall order, even with fresh tyres. And so it proved to be as he closely followed Vettel home but never truly challenged him.
Image credit: DPA Picture Alliance
Hamilton has shown his expertise when it comes to managing degrading tyres and defending positions many times in the past and would surely have been better off attempting that. The worst case scenario there would be that both Bottas and Vettel pass him and then Hamilton would have pitted anyway as there was well over a pit stop’s time back to Alexander Albon in fourth.
This obsession Mercedes appear to have with the overcut – certainly when it comes to Hamilton – is quite strange considering its lack of success. In this instance, it looks a bit like they were wary of Hamilton and Bottas fighting on track and so removed him from the situation. You get the sense that the Mercedes strategy team may have been a bit flattered by the dominance of their car in recent years.
Either way, Bottas didn’t put a foot wrong out front and picked up a deserved victory – his first since Baku in April.
More Points for Sainz, More Bad Luck for Norris
It was another strong drive for Carlos Sainz and another fifth place come the chequered flag. That moves him up to sixth in the Drivers’ Championship and moves McLaren another step closer to sealing fourth in the Constructors’ Championship. The Spaniard really is showing his full ability now, after a difficult year at Renault in 2018, and is potentially making Red Bull question their decision to release him. Whilst obviously far more experienced, he is only actually 18 months older than Albon and Pierre Gasly…
His teammate, Lando Norris, on the other hand, reverted back to form. That form being a promising race ruined by bad luck and factors beyond his control. The teenager was following his teammate comfortably in sixth for the first few laps but then collected some shrapnel from Leclerc’s disintegrating car in his brake duct, which began to overheat.
Image credit: Getty Images
To add insult to injury, just as he was about to take an early pit stop to have the debris removed, Albon launched an overambitious divebomb into the final chicane and clumsily punted his friend off the track. Norris recovered to the pit lane, his brake now on fire. He returned to the track and fought gallantly for the remainder of the race, finishing 13th, but it was another haul of points lost.
By rights, Norris should be close behind Sainz in the championship. It has been an impressive debut season for an immensely likeable character and, with some better luck and a bit more experience – particularly when it comes to race starts – the young man from Somerset could really challenge in the next couple of years.
Is Michael Masi Producing Problems?
Speaking of Albon’s overambitious divebomb, which went unpunished, it feels like F1’s stewarding and regulations are suffering from something of an identity crisis.
Michael Masi was a fairly popular replacement when we sadly lost Charlie Whiting on the eve of this season. He was stepping into some particularly large shoes and, for the first few races, he went mostly unnoticed – ergo, he was doing a fine job. But since the backlash caused by Vettel’s – in my opinion justified – penalty in Canada, Masi and co decided to change their tact somewhat and allow harder racing.
I brought up some potential issues after the Italian Grand Prix, when Masi announced that they would now be using the black and white flag more often, which I’m fine with in principle, and that Leclerc would have received a penalty had he made contact with Hamilton, which I think is somewhat ridiculous considering Hamilton had to leave the track to avoid said contact. Read that Grand Prix’s report for a more detailed analysis.
Since Verstappen’s move in Austria, the drivers have started to push the limits, finding out just how much they can get away with. And the answer appears to be a lot.
Hard racing, for me, is two drivers on the very edge but not quite making contact. Think Albon-Kvyat in Hungary this year or, particularly, Hamilton-Alonso in Mexico 2017. That’s surely the kind of racing we want to see.
But suddenly, in the space of a few races, it seems that clumsily throwing your car at the apex – Albon didn’t appear in a position to even make the corner without using Norris as a stopper – and knocking another car out of the way is apparently now okay.
This looks ridiculous when driving the wrong side of a bollard, as per Kevin Magnussen in Russia, gets you a time penalty. The lines are becoming too blurred and the stewards are losing authority. I just hope it doesn’t take a massive incident to provide perspective about what is and isn’t acceptable.
Japan was a sloppy weekend all round when it came to stewarding.
The casual viewer would struggle to understand why Vettel did not receive a penalty for what was a very visible jump start – we had expert analysts guessing at the minutiae, attempting to justify the decision – especially as Kimi Räikkönen received a penalty for an almost identical error at the very last race. It also took the best part of half the race for the stewards to reach their decision.
Then there was the fiasco with Leclerc’s damaged car. The blame appears to be shared by Leclerc, Ferrari and the FIA. Firstly, Ferrari called Leclerc in but he ignored the request and responded “Why?!” after having passed the pit entry. One lap later, just after the endplate had flown dangerously close to Hamilton, Ferrari told Leclerc not to come in. But the simple fact is Leclerc should immediately have been shown the black and orange flag and forced to come in by Race Control. Apparently Ferrari ‘promised that they would bring him in on the second lap’, only to go back on their word when the endplate fell off. But who is running the sport again?..
Image credit: Motorsport Images
So much time and effort has gone into safety in recent years and yet we have cars allowed to drive round at full racing speed, leaving a slew of sharp carbon fibre in their wake. That endplate sliced Hamilton’s wing mirror off; I can’t imagine it would have been pleasant had it struck him, just a few inches to the left. We have seen similar incidents in the last decade that resulted in a coma for Felipe Massa and the tragic death of Justin Wilson.
It was plainly obvious that Leclerc’s wing would not survive long and that it would most likely give up at the fastest part of the track. He also had a loose wing mirror which broke off later in the race. No one from Race Control even seemed to acknowledge that.
Leclerc and Ferrari were eventually given five and ten second penalties for the Verstappen incident and then not pitting respectively after the race. But, regardless of the fact that they are quite lenient penalties, why did the decision take so long? The first penalty seemed an absolute slam dunk – it was particularly bizarre that the initial decision was ‘no further action’ before it was then reopened – and five seconds after the race is considerably different to five seconds early in the race with traffic to navigate.
Image credit: Formula 1
Drivers with dangerous damage such as this should be shown the black and orange flag and forced to return to the pits at a reduced speed. It’s as simple as that for me.
And finally, to top things off, the new virtual chequered flag, which officially ends the race, was somehow produced one lap early. This actually changed the race result as Sergio Pérez’s last-lap retirement from eighth place was undone. Imagine if Hamilton had dramatically passed Vettel in the final few corners…
This is the very highest echelon of motorsport and it should feel as such. Right now, it doesn’t.
The Japanese Grand Prix in 60 Seconds
Answering the Burning Questions
Will there be more drama at Ferrari? Of course. But at least there was no drama between the drivers this time.
What effect will the Mercedes upgrade have? Hard to say. On Friday, it looked massive but then the Ferraris locked out the front row.
Are we going to have (lots of) rain with a typhoo heading for Suzuka? Yep. But it was all on the one day and didn’t affect a single session with the Saturday cancellation.
Can Mercedes wrap up the Constructors’ Championship? They can!
Which enthusiastic Japanese fan will have made the best hat? Got to be this one for me.
Strange words to hear but an unlikely Mercedes win…
Image credit: Motorsport Images
Lewis Hamilton made the most of a Mercedes strategy gamble and some good fortune to take his ninth win of the season at the 2019 Russian Grand Prix.
Considering Mercedes are the only team to win in Russia since its debut in 2014 – even the unofficial Grands Prix in 1913 and 1914 were won by Benz, before their merger with Mercedes – it may seem a strange prospect that they were the underdogs this time around. But the characteristics of the front-running cars have changed. Ferrari’s class-leading straight-line speed, combined with the successful aerodynamic upgrade they brought to Singapore, saw them as the class of the field.
Through the Friday practice sessions, it appeared it may be a fight between Ferrari and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull as Mercedes struggled to get on top of their setup. Come qualifying, however, they had made some progress and Hamilton produced a trademark lap to claim a spot on the front row, albeit four tenths shy of Charles Leclerc’s equally impressive pole time.
But pole is something of a poisoned chalice at this track.
The long run down to the first corner – officially Turn Two – gives those behind a slipstream and puts the polesitter in an uncomfortable position. And so it proved to be again as Sebastian Vettel stormed past from third on the grid to take the lead. There was clearly some kind of agreement and the Ferrari drivers and engineers then spent the first phase of the race bickering about who should be in front. (More on that later.)
Image credit: AFP
Having spent most of the last three races trying to navigate past a slightly slower Ferrari on race day, Mercedes decided to take an alternate strategy and start on harder tyres. As it turned out, this would win them the race.
Shortly after the Ferrari pit stops, Vettel’s MGU-K went bang and the German ground to a halt. This brought out the Virtual Safety Car and played into the Silver Arrows’ hands, allowing Hamiton to take his pit stop and rejoin ahead of Leclerc. Something Mercedes Technical Director James Allison described as “deliciously ironic”.
Immediately after the VSC, a full safety car was called for a George Russell crash, which actually played slightly back into Ferrari’s hands. With Leclerc on harder, older tyres, Ferrari decided to take a gamble of their own and pit him for new softs under the safety car, dropping him behind only Valtteri Bottas and giving him the upper hand for the remaining 20 or so laps.
As it was, Mercedes handled the situation perfectly and just about kept the hungry, young Ferrari driver at arm’s length for the remainder of the race.
Whilst undoubtedly fortunate, Mercedes put themselves in that position strategically and showed their strong race pace on Sunday. Arguably, the narrowly faster car has lost the last three races. But that just shows how fine the margins currently are between the top two teams – with Verstappen forever snapping at their heels – and that is great for Formula 1.
McLaren Best of the Rest
Behind the top two teams, Verstappen came home a fairly lonely fourth and Alexander Albon produced a decent – if also quite fortunate – fightback to finish fifth after what had been a sloppy weekend. One that may prove crucial in his quest for next year’s Red Bull seat.
But it was McLaren who were the stars of the midfield.
Steadily improving throughout the weekend, after initially struggling to get on top of their setup on Friday, the papaya cars found themselves fifth and seventh on the grid – after a penalty had been applied to Verstappen – and with excellent starts converted that to fourth and sixth, Carlos Sainz even challenging Hamilton for third into Turn Two.
Image credit: Getty Images
Over the course of the race, the faster cars got past – as did Sergio Pérez when Lando Norris got a bit too involved in fighting a Red Bull – but sixth and eighth on the day takes the team into triple figures in the Constructors’ Championship for the first time since 2014. That’s a real sign of the progress they’ve made and the direction they’re going in.
Fourth in the standings is now looking very likely. And with the deal to return to Mercedes power from 2021 announced this weekend, things are looking promising for a team that has been trying to rebuild what was a true empire of the sport. Just think how many more points they would have this year without those costly Renault enging blow-ups…
The future’s bright, the future’s (papaya) orange.
What Was Going on With the Ferrari Team Orders?
Nobody is coming out and officially saying what deal was agreed within Ferrari regarding the start of the race.
It would appear, though, that Leclerc had agreed to give his teammate the tow to Turn Two to ensure he got ahead of Hamilton and produced a Ferrari one-two. However, it would also appear that if Vettel got past during that sequence that he was due to hand the lead back to Leclerc. Vettel did get past but did not hand the place back and, from there, things started to get a little complicated.
Image credit: Getty Images
Vettel made the point that he would have passed Leclerc anyway and that the other Ferrari should get closer before he can pass. He certainly had a point with the latter – he would have left himself in the clutches of a certain Lewis Hamilton had he allowed Leclerc through at any point during that first phase of the race. The former, though, I’m not totally convinced by.
If Leclerc were purely thinking of himself, I think he would have emerged from Turn Two as the leader. He could have moved right to give Hamilton the tow – knowing the Mercedes has less straight-line speed and seeing that he had got away poorly – and then defended the inside line of the corner.
By cutting a deal with both drivers that had some very grey areas, they were always putting themselves in an awkward position. Particularly given the current climate within the team, with it plain to see that there is something of a power struggle going on between the two drivers.
As it was, they were forced to run Vettel long on his first stint and effectively pass the lead to Leclerc in that way. Whilst giving the German fresher tyres and the chance to fight back on track was arguably a decent compromise, it all felt a bit uncomfortable and Vettel didn’t sound too pleased. Sadly, it would prove to be a moot point anyway as his SF90 pulled up next to the crash barriers on lap 26.
As has generally been the case this season, the Ferrari team orders seem to be producing more issues than they are solving. And, with the car now looking likely to be competitive for the remainder of the season, there could be more flashpoints to come to test the inter-team harmony. If Ferrari then convert this current strong form into a title battle next year…expect real fireworks for 2020.
The Russian Grand Prix in 60 Seconds
Answering the Burning Questions
Has that Ferrari upgrade changed the pecking order this season or was Singapore an outlier? It would appear to have legitimately changed the pecking order.
Can Sebastian Vettel push on now having put some demons to rest with a win? Qualifying pace was still lacking but he produced a strong performance on Sunday before team orders and a failed engine got in the way.
Will tensions rise further in the Ferrari camp? Yup.
Will we see the longest winless run for Mercedes in the hybrid era? Nope.
Who will come out on top in the McLaren/Renault fight this weekend? McLaren had the edge and now have a tight grip on fourth in the standings.
Will Valtteri hear from James during the race? Certainly not in the meme sense.
How awkward will the cool down room with Putin be this year? There was no Putin thankfully. But Hamilton did hug a giant Russian doll which was a little odd.
A Singapore Ferrari 1-2…just as everybody predicted…
Image credit: Motorsport Images
Sebastian Vettel completed a hat-trick of victories for Ferrari with an unexpected turn of speed under the lights at the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix. Coming into the weekend, the drivers, the team and their competitors were writing off their chances – even the ever-pessimistic Toto Wolff said early in the weekend he expected Max Verstappen to be their only competitor.
But, from Saturday morning, the red cars showed a sudden improvement after a seemingly very successful aerodynamic upgrade was fitted. Charles Leclerc claimed a stunning pole position, on the ragged edge of adhesion, and in doing so stole it away from his teammate Vettel, who had produced a great first run but failed to improve on his second attempt. Come Sunday, however, it would be Vettel returning the favour in the race as he benefitted from an accidental undercut on his teammate to take the victory.
Behind the two prancing horses out front, Verstappen grabbed what had seemed an unlikely podium thanks to a strategic error from Mercedes dropping Lewis Hamilton from second to fourth. The champion’s teammate, Valtteri Bottas, followed him home in fifth with Alexander Albon just behind.
What could have been a thrilling finale, with the Mercedes closing in on fresher tyres, somewhat petered out thanks to a string of late safety cars which gave the Ferraris the breathing space – certainly in regards to tyre life – they required. However, the sight at each of the numerous restarts of two Ferraris and Verstappen heading into Turn 1 at Singapore probably set off some PTSD in a fair few Ferrari fans…
Behind the big three teams, Lando Norris put his recent run of bad luck behind him to claim ‘best of the rest’ and Pierre Gasly will have quietened some critics with a strong run to eighth place. The last points were collected by Nico Hülkenberg, who completed a decent recovery drive after a somewhat overambitious move on Carlos Sainz on the first lap, and Antonio Giovinazzi.
How Did Vettel End Up Ahead?
Leclerc led away from pole and controlled the first part of the race, as the front-runners crawled round Singapore’s abundance of turns painfully slowly, attempting to conserve their tyres. This slow pace meant the field remained close together though and produced some head-scratching amongst the strategy teams as the gap usually created between the top six and the rest of the field was not there for the leaders to emerge into after their stops.
Hamilton called for an undercut on Leclerc but Mercedes didn’t oblige and so Ferrari pitted Vettel to attempt the undercut on Hamilton himself. It was very effective – as it turned out, arguably, too effective. They expected Vettel to make up a second or two but, even with a pretty average pit stop, he made up well over three seconds and when Leclerc emerged from the pits a lap later, he was narrowly behind his teammate.
The young Monegasque was understandably perplexed and irked. He repeatedly came on to the radio asking what had happened, why it had happened and what was going to happen next. No particularly enlightening answers were forthcoming and, try as he might, he could not fashion even a sniff of an overtake and came home a discontented second.
Image credit: LAT Images
Vettel didn’t let the fortunate circumstances dampen his enjoyment of a long-awaited victory and brought out the old one-digit-salute for the first time in over a year. He also likely felt that this was justice for whatever precisely went on during that messy and controversial Italian Q3. Leclerc, after calming down somewhat, did mostly toe the company line and showed maturity in his reaction to missing out on the win through no fault of his own.
Could they have swapped the drivers? Potentially – and apparently that idea was discussed – but Vettel’s excellent out lap put him in the position to inherit the lead. Being told to relinquish a win, after the season he has had and the controversies in Canada and Italy, would surely have crushed him. It was probably the right call.
This will only serve to further increase tensions within the team, though. Imagine if Ferrari had been this competitive earlier in the year…
And How Did Mercedes Get It So Wrong?
We are all used to Mercedes as a no-nonsense, well-oiled machine in the hybrid era but there have been a few slip-ups (no oil pun intended) recently.
Obviously, whilst clearly a chastening weekend for all involved at Mercedes, the German Grand Prix was something of a lottery and they were far from the all only team to be caught out. Here, however, their call to keep Hamilton out seemed clearly foolish to most armchair strategists watching on. The driver’s call to undercut Leclerc would likely have seen him win the race but, once Mercedes had missed their chance to do so, they decided to gamble on going long.
A safety car in the time that Hamilton was still out would most likely have done the job. But this high-risk approach seems to go against the normal Mercedes sensible, efficient ethos – you don’t leave your strategy calls in the lap of the gods, hoping for a miracle. Without that kind of intervention, they were reliant on the out-of-position cars, that hadn’t stopped, holding up the defacto leaders and the world champion’s tyres were always likely to cry ‘enough’ before then.
Image credit: Daimler AG
And so it was that Mercedes had to bail out of the gamble and awkwardly ask Bottas – who is supposedly in a fight with Hamilton for the title, remember – to slow down dramatically so he didn’t pass his teammate and drag Albon through with him. James Vowles even worked it beautifully for the memers of the world by using his infamous ‘Valtteri, it’s James’ line again…
Any hope the team had of salvaging something from the situation by utilising the fresher tyres was then dashed by that series of late safety cars.
Is this a case of complacency from the Silver Arrows, with the title all but wrapped up halfway through the season? Are they now focusing on a bigger update for the start of next year so as not to reveal their latest secrets to their rivals? Or have they just been a bit unlucky in the last three races? Whatever the true answer, if they don’t win in Russia next weekend, it will be the longest winless run for Mercedes since the start of the hybrid era.
A Rollercoaster for Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo seemed in high spirits (not that that’s exactly noteworthy) coming to Singapore off the back of a great fourth place in Monza and he then followed that up by sealing a solid seventh position on the grid. It was not to last though as he was disqualified from the qualifying session for a technical infringement.
Ricciardo and Renault clearly took umbrage with the penalty but had no option other than to except it and move on, even if it was later revealed to be “after he benefitted from an advantage measured at one microsecond [0.000001s] due to a kerb hit that caused his MGU-K to over-rev on his slowest lap of Q1.” Unfortunately, rules are rules. If you give the teams an inch they will take a mile and if you give them a microsecond they will probably find a way to take a second.
So come Sunday, the Aussie unsurprisingly decided to go for it. He was doing an excellent job of carving through the field, if pushing his luck at points, and looked to have put himself in a net points-paying position but a clumsy move on Giovinazzi left him with a puncture and left him back near where he started.
It was a shame to see. Whilst clearly an excellent driver, at points you have to wonder whether Ricciardo earned his reputation for overtaking by ‘licking the stamp and sending it’ to drivers who would rather just get out of the way of what was normally a faster Red Bull.
Either way, the Honey Badger will leave Singapore, reset and come back fighting again in Sochi.
Answering the Burning Questions
Can Sebastian Vettel recover from a crushing weekend in Monza? He can!
Will the Mercedes or Red Bull be the best car around Marina Bay? Or maybe even Ferrari?! It was mostly just great to see such a fight between all three but seemingly the Ferrari did have an unexpected edge.
How will Alexander Albon cope in his first true head-to-head test against Max Verstappen? It was a solid performance on a very difficult and unforgiving track. But he will need to build on it and close the gap further.
Will Verstappen get through the first corner unscathed this weekend? Yes.
Can Renault keep up the momentum from their strong result in Italy? The car had promising speed but a minor technical glitch and a couple of crashes got in their way.
