2017 Russian Grand Prix

[AndyL]

We're 40 minutes from qualifying, we'd better have a Russian GP thread hadn't we? Ferrari looking very good so far. The question is, what do Mercedes have left in the bag.

[Tazio]

Ferrari are looking very strong after P3 It will be hard for Merc to keep them off pole. Ferrari seem to have a wide operating window for their tires, while Mercedes is struggling with rears. It could be another "Walk Like An Egyptian":rolleyes:

[Tazio]

Quali gurlz/dawgz!:vampire:

[Tazio]

Mega lap from Bottas!

[BigWorm]

Get in Ferrari! Top 3 seperated by 0.1

[gm99]

First all-Ferrari front row since 2008?
And Hamilton beaten by Bottas for the second quali in a row.

[Koz]

http://i.imgur.com/PW3cwOt.jpg

[Koz]

FORZA FERRARI!

Damn, that was close though. I thought Kimi had it.

Lets hope he gets a good run and comes back into the championship!

[The Black Knight]

Great job from Ferrari to see them on top again.

Although, it's a shame to see Vettel on top, especially after his behaviour last year in the likes of Mexico, for which he should have been given a very lengthy ban. However, it is what it is, and life doesn't always give spoiled brats what they deserve, we all know that.

Good to see Kimi up there.

Shocker from Hamilton. Worst qualifying I can remember from him in many years. Has the same car as Bottas in the end so he can have no excuses. The car looked awful on board in the final sector. Totally unsettled. Not sure if Bottas was the same as didn't see the onboard but Mercedes have a lotof work to do in order to win this championship.

[AndyL]

The biggest shock for me was that a shabby lap in a Mercedes is still 1.2s quicker than a good lap in the 3rd best car.

[steveaki13]

Hey guys. Whats the situation? I have not really followed the weekend as have been very busy. Whats up with Hammy? Are you fearing a Vettel whitewash?

[steveaki13]

hope its not as boring as some here. fearing a procession.

[Tazio]

I'm fearing a Ferrari \whitewash. The Boss has just been off the pace especially in s3, let's see what happens!

[Tazio]

hope its not as boring as some here. fearing a procession.
Should at least be some good fights in the midfield! Steve did you get your picks in?

[steveaki13]

Should at least be some good fights in the midfield! Steve did you get your picks in?

nope

Naughty :(

[Koz]

Hey guys!

Come on Kimi!

[Koz]

Do ya'll think Fred will finish the race if he's outside the points?

And Alonso is out.

[steveaki13]

Blimey. Fred is going to be walking away from F1 very soon. Bloody stupid how terrible Mclaren are

[steveaki13]

What a start by Bottas. Thats livened things up.

Palmer continues his terrible form, poor Grosjean.

Stroll spinning under SC after actually getting up the field. Alonso to Williams?

[Tazio]

Hey Koz :wave:. Great start by McBottas.

[steveaki13]

Ric out now..... falling like flies

[steveaki13]

Field spread :s

[AndyL]

Bottas' good form at Sochi continues, he's stretching the lead. Race on!

[Tazio]

VB pulling away!

[steveaki13]

What a classic this is :rolleyes:

[N4D13]

I'm mad at Merc for sabotaging Lewis' car and giving him an overheating engine to allow Rosberg to steal the WDC.

[steveaki13]

Sad that 3 second gaps are still hot air prone. All a bit pointless. :D

[N4D13]

The leaders are improving their laptimes even though they are halfway into the race already - on ultrasofts. That is utterly ridiculous.

[AndyL]

Looks like Mercedes have held the high ground by pitting first. Should be win number 1 for Bottas.

[Koz]

At this point, Vettel shouldn't be concerned about Bottas, I think Kimi's got him.

[AndyL]

Bottas and Kimi 1-2?

[Koz]

Lol, Kimi confused about Bottas and Hamilton :D

[Koz]

Vettel starts raging in ...3...2...1!

Damn it! I thought Kimi had him!

[AndyL]

I guess the only way to simulate a bit of drama in the Russian GP was to tell the commentators that the pit lane time is 3 seconds more than it really is :)

[steveaki13]

0 overtakes and 0 close battles.....

where has Hamilton disappeared too? 22 seconds behind

[steveaki13]

Should at least be some good fights in the midfield.

How has that gone mate?:rotflmao::dozey::arrows:

[steveaki13]

looks like the only single interesting moment today will be a battle for the lead.... thats something at least :p

[AndyL]

I don't think Vettel is going to be able to follow close enough to make an attack.

[Rollo]

0 overtakes and 0 close battles.....

where has Hamilton disappeared too? 22 seconds behind

0 overtakes? Bottas swept into the lead on lap 1.

Sochi is a pretty rubbish sort of track though. The air sits in the concrete canyon and cars disturb the air for the car following. DRS can't event solve that.

[steveaki13]

0 overtakes? Bottas swept into the lead on lap 1.

Sochi is a pretty rubbish sort of track though. The air sits in the concrete canyon and cars disturb the air for the car following. DRS can't event solve that.

Sorry I was meaning after lap 1 :p

[longisland]

Would raikkonen have a better shot to overtake Bottas had Ferrari not favored Vettel in strategy?

[AndyL]

0 overtakes? Bottas swept into the lead on lap 1.

Sochi is a pretty rubbish sort of track though. The air sits in the concrete canyon and cars disturb the air for the car following. DRS can't event solve that.

I don't think anyone has even managed to get into the DRS zone in the entire race.

Edit: spoke too soon, Vettel managed to get within 1 second just for a moment... and then immediately slipped back again.

[steveaki13]

well done Bottas.

Not sure what Hamilton was up to.

Ferrari boyz done good too.

0 on track overtakes at all after lap 1. Apart from that last few laps no one even got close to another car.

[Rollo]

Vettel managed to get within 1 second just for a moment... and then immediately slipped back again.

WilliamsGP: Hey Mercedes, can we please have our cheque now?

MercedesF1: ¥£$

WilliamsGP: Okay. Massa might just accidentally get in the way of that Ferrari.

[steveaki13]

Kimi smiley as always :D

Mind you better than being as mad as EJ. :rotflmao: "Thank you Sochi for this amazing race"??? :crazy:

[AndyL]

Kimi smiley as always :D

Mind you better than being as mad as EJ. :rotflmao: "Thank you Sochi for this amazing race"??? :crazy:

"One of the best races we've seen." His memory must be going :D

[Koz]

Anyone know how many overtakes total?

I don't think I saw a single one.

[COD]

Not sure what Hamilton was up to.

.

Bottas has put some pressure on him he didn't expect. Ham was cracking under pressure. Overdriving.

[AndyL]

Anyone know how many overtakes total?

I don't think I saw a single one.

None that I saw. In fact watching the gaps on the timing caption I never even saw a gap less than 1 second through the entire field, until Vettel closed up on Bottas at the end. This is the first circuit where we've seen the full effect of the new aero on the ability to follow.

[Tazio]

How has that gone mate?:rotflmao::dozey::arrows:
Yeah pretty much of a procession all the way through the field, and yes I fell asleep!
Congrat's to Bottas on his first win.

[Nitrodaze]

Bottas was man of the race in my opinion. Storming into the lead from third place against what was a really fast Ferrari was the sort of thing one would expect from Hamilton. His first F1 win which was long coming in my opinion. Apart from the excitement of a potential Vettel overtake on Bottas which never happened ofcourse, the Russian GP was the most boring race of the season so far.

Kimi faded as Bottas and Vettel streaked away. Hamilton got the dodgy car this weekend, hence suffered all sorts of heating problems. You can tell Hammy is very downcast about the state of the Mercedes relative to the Ferrari Verstapenn did well to be best of the rest but he was very quiet all through this race. It was a great day for force India as they out scored the Williams and Renault. Consolidating their forth position in the constructors championship.

The Williams race strategy really squandered all the hard work of Massa. I think a question mark is beginning to arise about the Lance Stroll experiment. It just seems to be costing Williams more than is reasonable. Having two drivers of Massa's caliber would certainly have given Williams a better constructors position than they are attaining at the moment. They have a great car for a change and it is not attaining its full potential. I suppose one would ask if the unattained constructors money is out wayed by the money that Stroll brings to the table. If not, it would make sense to cut him lose as he is clearly struggling to measure up to other rookies on the grid. Like Ocon in particular.

Some may say the Honda engine is only fit for a lawnmower, but Sauber has signed up to have it for 2018. That Honda engine is clearly faster than the 2016 Ferrari Engine. Hence there is clear progress, but plagued with all manner of gremlins. At least, we can say that Honda is committed to F1 for the next few years.

Two drivers that is also not quite measuring up are Palmer and Magnussen. Palmer just seem to be in a crash rot at the moment. With Hulkenburg finishing 8th, Renault would dearly preferred Palmer to finish 9th or 10th. Magnussen just seem to make avoidable mistakes that prevents him from reaching his true potential.

What can we say about Ricciado? He is just so unlucky in this phase of the year. He must be very frustrated.

[The Black Knight]

I am so happy for Bottas. Truly deserved this victory. He is over performing where lots of us didn't expect and it is great to see for such a nice chap.

Vettel moaning on the radio again. Was so happy that Massa burned the pissy little bitch in the post race interviews.

[N. Jones]

I think Hulkenburg was the MOTR. Last year that Renault was a dog and he has done wonders with it. Maybe if Alonso returns they might actually hit a podium or two in 2018.

[yodasarmpit]

Other than Vettel chasing down Bottas this was a complete borefest, overtaking - or just getting close - seems to be a huge problem on some tracks.

[N4D13]

As much as we like to lambast McLaren over here, let's face it: we really needed them on this race. It would have been rather entertaining to see Alonso losing positions on the straights, if only to see some actual overtaking!

[zako85]

Houston, we actually got a good F1 season.

[Rollo]

Some may say the Honda engine is only fit for a lawnmower, but Sauber has signed up to have it for 2018. That Honda engine is clearly faster than the 2016 Ferrari Engine. Hence there is clear progress, but plagued with all manner of gremlins.

Kimi's Qualifying time at the 2016 Chinese GP was 1;35.972 to put him 3rd. Ocon's time at the 2017 Chinese GP was 1:35.496 to put him 20th. Alonso's 14th place time in 2017 would have put him on pole in 2016.

That Honda engine is clearly faster than the 2016 Ferrari Engine - is it? Bigger wings and higher cornering speeds have had more to do with performance than just the engine me thinks.

At any rate, McLaren was spitting out 7s, 8s, 9s and 10s and this season they've got 13s, 14s and 20s.



At least, we can say that Honda is committed to F1 for the next few years.

The Titanic was also absolutely committed to Atlantic sea crossing for ten years. That didn't work out so well.

[Starter]

Kimi's Qualifying time at the 2016 Chinese GP was 1;35.972 to put him 3rd. Ocon's time at the 2017 Chinese GP was 1:35.496 to put him 20th. Alonso's 14th place time in 2017 would have put him on pole in 2016.

That Honda engine is clearly faster than the 2016 Ferrari Engine - is it? Bigger wings and higher cornering speeds have had more to do with performance than just the engine me thinks.

At any rate, McLaren was spitting out 7s, 8s, 9s and 10s and this season they've got 13s, 14s and 20s.




The Titanic was also absolutely committed to Atlantic sea crossing for ten years. That didn't work out so well.
Yep, for those with short memories it wouldn't be the first time Honda has pulled the plug.

[Nitrodaze]

Kimi's Qualifying time at the 2016 Chinese GP was 1;35.972 to put him 3rd. Ocon's time at the 2017 Chinese GP was 1:35.496 to put him 20th. Alonso's 14th place time in 2017 would have put him on pole in 2016.

That Honda engine is clearly faster than the 2016 Ferrari Engine - is it? Bigger wings and higher cornering speeds have had more to do with performance than just the engine me thinks.

At any rate, McLaren was spitting out 7s, 8s, 9s and 10s and this season they've got 13s, 14s and 20s.




The Titanic was also absolutely committed to Atlantic sea crossing for ten years. That didn't work out so well.

Fair comment. Honda will either chicken out or fight to get ahead. Surely it can't get any worst. The only way is up from this point. It would be well worth the wait when they do get it together and l think they would. Who ever said making winning F1 engine was easy eh? That said, spare a thought for Alonso.