Interesting some of the comments about how useless Kimi is. Somehow that useless driver keeps snagging podiums though. Good for the constructors points and good for keeping points away from other drivers too.
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Interesting some of the comments about how useless Kimi is. Somehow that useless driver keeps snagging podiums though. Good for the constructors points and good for keeping points away from other drivers too.
This was a fine race. Hamilton was obviously disappointed after the race, but besides Raikkonen I hope he is also blaming himself or the car for the poor start. At the end of race, he recovered remarkably well and minimized his loss to Vettel.
That would be assuming Ferrari would chose to pay out Kimi's contract with half a season remaining. Those little details, like enforceable contracts, are problems those who don't write the checks can ignore. And that would be on top of what Ferrari would have to pay to buy LeClerc's contract. The off season is a much better time to make any changes the team may wish.
We were deprived of a proper duel at the front by the collision. But the possibility of it depended on Hamilton in 3rd position getting past Bottas in similar car to get at Vettel. Though Hamilton appear to have a better pace than Bottas during the race, getting by would have been difficult without team orders. The Ferrari appears faster, but l think Hamilton had the pace to get something out of Vettels gammy neck and right front tyre issues if he were to get pass Bottas from 3rd. All of this are speculation of course.
The truth is, the Mercedes is falling behind the Ferrari. The small margin of advantages that Ferrari has, may just be enough to clinch both titles, if Ferrari keep their operational efficiency and track performance up. Mercedes always seem to find something in the 2nd half of each season, hence l expect they may bounce back. But if they don't do so in the next two races, it could slip away from them.
They are not going to replace him mid-season. That would be banana’s. Hopefully they’ll do it at the end of the year. Mind you, it’s been clear from F2 that Leclerc is a special talent so I would have taken the risk on him at the start of the year if I were Ferrari.
More worryingly to me about Mercedes is that France was the first big upgrade they brought to the car, meanwhile Ferrari are bringing modifications to every race. Mercedes to up their game in this area, big time.
I was less bothered with the kimi incident and more annoyed with the driving of Bottas.
Here is what I took from the race. Bottas is clearly the worst amongst the top 6.
All too often when mercedes need him the most to to keep the ferrari honest or challenge for the win he simply lets them drive away and offers nothing in terms of challenging the car.Being content in coming home second does nothing for me, when you clearly have the car to stick with vettel and provide some sort of challenge.
Yes people talk about him being unlucky etc. But apart from Baku, he has not impressed me with his racecraft or the ability to challenge the car ahead.
silverstone was a race where Mercedes needed him to step up and couldn't.
If verstappen, ricciardo, hulkenberg, alonso or leclerc where in that 2nd car there is no way they would have allowed vettel to drive off into the distance like that.
That factor along with the shambolic race day strategy by Mercedes has been their undoing.
Vettel took a well deserved victory, Hamilton did all he could after his spin, Kimi showed some real bite in the race.
It was entertaining, albeit a bit frustrating. so far 2018 has produced a lot of good races and drama.