When is Bottas' contract over? Will that seat go to Ricciardo I wonder.
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When is Bottas' contract over? Will that seat go to Ricciardo I wonder.
Bottas signed another 1-year deal I believe.
Bottas screwed the start, did a good lap out of the pits when he had free track, but was not enough. As Hamilton was unable to pass Räikkönn, that showed the problem of current cars, you need lots of speed difference to pass. That is why Bottas was stuck behind Vettel and Kimi behind Valtteri. Hanilton was good against inferior cars, but against Ferrari, he was just as lame as Bottas
IS that why? I could not understand why Bottas could not close up on Vettel.
Bigger wings means more turbulence and thus difficult to get close enough to pass. We have heard drivers say that many times this year. They put these DRS things to aid it a little, but not make wings significantly smaller?
I think Hamilton's tyres were probably falling off in the last few laps against Kimi.
One thing that the NBC commentators mentioned: one reason Hamilton was able to slice through the field so effectively was that by starting from the pit lane and breaking parc ferme, he was able to change the setup on his car. Everybody else had set up for the cold and damp conditions for qualifying, and Hamilton was the only car on track with a completely dry weather setup.
Jaques Villeneuve is laying into Bottas again today for only finishing a few seconds in front of Hamilton, but I think kind of misses the point; the Mercedes had different setups and different strategies. Bottas did manage to get pole, and was keeping pace with Vettel during the race, even though he couldn't make it past.
Oh, and Alonso's performance was... interesting. Just how good is that chassis really? Possibly quite good. Assuming next year is mostly evolutionary from a chassis perspective, we'll find out what it can do with a real engine.
Oh, and one more thing... reading between the lines a bit (but not much) it sounds like Renault are bracing themselves for a whole bunch of their power units going kerblouiee in Abu Dhabi.
Not so much a fundamental issue with the engine as a supply chain cockup. They didn't anticipate so many failures, and didn't manufacture enough parts, so they're now using refurbished and/or retired components, particularly for the MGU-H. That definitely doesn't sound like it will end well.
Multiple reports suggest that Red Bull were struggling in Brazil because they had their engines turned down because of this.
Who says a lame duck race can't be interesting?
Yeah I wonder if that is true that Mercedes changed his setup for the conditions on Sunday. He was easily passing people throughout the day.