2018 Shanghai Grand Prix

[airshifter]

No love for China yet?

With qually over, it looks as though the Ferrari pace is no fluke, and Mercedes might be struggling with tire temp. Any rapid changes in the track temps could easily flip things around for Mercedes, and likely other teams as well.

Kimi looked well on this way to wrapping up the pole, and Seb manages to claw the time back with a final sector that put him on pole by less than a tenth of a second. Mercedes are back almost a half second from Seb, and it appears that Red Bull might have a shot at Mercedes if they can deliver some solid race pace. It looks as if the midfield teams have developed some larger gaps, but those might disappear with track temp changes and race pace.

I've always found China an interesting track. Though I'm not fond of the really long start/finish straight, the rest of the track has some decent variations, and off line encounters sometimes leave room for some non-DRS passing along the way. The first turn battle is usually still being sorted out of mayhem through turn 4, and then things begin to find some order.

With new track lap records in qually it will be interesting to see what kind of race pace the 2018 cars deliver.

[N4D13]

I just realized that I had been posting in the Bahrain thread. :o

[Nitrodaze]

Mercedes have a very strong race pace, hence Ferrari may find it a harder race than expected when the lights go out tomorrow.

[journeyman racer]

I'm particularly eager to see the first lap based off the grid.

[longisland]

Vettels chop just caused Kimi 2 spots.

[longisland]

Vettels chop just caused Kimi 2 spots.
Costed

[truefan72]

So dumb mercedes does not pit hamilton on the sc. Another shsite strategy call. Should have pit him for a set of softs. Smh

[N4D13]

Way to go from hero to zero for Bahrain star Gasly.

[The Black Knight]

Nothing is more infuriating today in F1 than a SC with lapped cars unlapping themselves. It’s a ridiculous rule. Just let the cars race where they are.

[truefan72]

Gaqdci hate 5he mercedes pit. Another blown call. They are pathetic

[longisland]

Great move from Danny! Now Verstappen pass Ham too. The SC just destroyed both Merc & Ferrari’s race

[truefan72]

I'm done with the retards at mercedes. How they blow an easy call to pit him is beyond comprehension. As soin as the sc came out i immediately said pit Hamilton. They have all the info and cant make a goddamn simple decision.

[longisland]

Max just proved Vettel was right last week

[truefan72]

Goos for ricciardo and rbr. Stupid verstappen cost them a 1-2 finish

[A FONDO]

What a wonderful piece of track this is, you can overtake everywhere!

[BigWorm]

Max just never learns. After 3 years in the sport you'd expect him to mature a bit but he hasn't really.

[A FONDO]

I'm done with the retards at mercedes. How they blow an easy call to pit him is beyond comprehension. As soin as the sc came out i immediately said pit Hamilton. They have all the info and cant make a goddamn simple decision.

Sky guys say Ham was already past the pit entry but still it's been pretty common for MErcs to oversleep such opportunities. What a bunch of wooden heads they are.

[A FONDO]

Max just never learns. After 3 years in the sport you'd expect him to mature a bit but he hasn't really.

The inside of that hairpin seems a bit tricky to be honest, a bit dirtier or uneven surface can decide the few inches between a wonderful dive and a crash.

[longisland]

Sky guys say Ham was already past the pit entry but still it's been pretty common for MErcs to oversleep such opportunities. What a bunch of wooden heads they are.
Mercs were never challenged by a team with similar pace for the past 4 years. They always had the gap so in short it’s complacency or they called it offline tool malfunction

[N4D13]

At first I thought that 10-second penalty on Mad Max was a bit too lenient and now I'm fairly certain about it.

By the way, that Alonso pass on Vettel is exactly the kind of thing we usually criticise about Max. Had it been Hamilton rather than Vettel, they'd be picking up debris in that corner by now.

[truefan72]

Congrats ricciardo. Hamilton would have won the race if he had pitted. They blew it. Verstappen is really problematic. Kimi did well to recover from a shafted strategy. Hulkenberg continues to impress. As is alonso.

[longisland]

congrats to Danny! Driver of the day albeit helped by SC but his pass on Hamilton made the difference. Special mention to Max for being spoiler of the race. Great for neutral fans but not great for Vettel. Ham should but Max a beer

[Nitrodaze]

I'm done with the retards at mercedes. How they blow an easy call to pit him is beyond comprehension. As soin as the sc came out i immediately said pit Hamilton. They have all the info and cant make a goddamn simple decision.

Damn right, Mercedes are beginning to look like losers at the mo.

[truefan72]

Sky guys say Ham was already past the pit entry but still it's been pretty common for MErcs to oversleep such opportunities. What a bunch of wooden heads they are.
Im not sure about that. In fact im pretty certain he wasn't past the pits. As both rbr cars were fairly close behind him and the incident was at turn 17.

Yup I knew I was right. At the time of the Safety Car Verstappen was ahead of Hamilton and Ricciardo about 4 seconds behind.
They were all approaching turn 17 (the end of the long back straight) whne the SC came out.
Both Red Bulls went into the pits. the idiots and mercedes probably tried to call some committee meeting and were waiting to hear back from England and simply botched the call.
It is just plain dumb. Hamilton would have finished no lower than p2 and probably won the race if he had pitted. It might have been too late for Bottas and Vettel but not for Hamilton. I bet you toto wolff was behind this. I can probably see him overriding Hamilton's engineer to pit him, because bottas didn't and he wants to "keep things totally equal" even if it means loosing a race win or making in roads towards vettel. Idiots the lot of them.

[N4D13]

I'm not really happy at how the race turned out as I feel that Bottas was robbed of a win here. I don't like the guy, nor do I rate him highly, but Red Bull just lacked their way into a win here today. I'd need to rewatch that part of the race, but I'm fairly certain that Merc and Ferrari had little time to react when the SC came out as they were almost at the pit entry, whereas Red Bull had a couple more seconds which they put to good use. Sometimes with the SC it's all down to which part of the track you're in...

As for the other Red Bull driver... damn. I've always found him rather overrated and believed that Ricciardo was the superior race driver. He obviously needs to grow up. See how Alonso has been making a large number of overtakes over the last couple of seasons and never seems to cause accidents or get penalties? That's what Max is missing if he wants to become a WDC, and that's where Ricciardo will be beating him every time.

Also a pretty dismal showing from Toro Rosso-Honda and from Gasly, who provoked a completely unnecessary accident. Then, of course, he's a rookie, so you can kind of expect these things from him.

And if something struck me about the top two teams today, it was mostly the fact that Ferrari completely screwed with Räikkönen's strategy only to get Vettel a chance to pass Bottas, which he didn't capitalize on anyway. They kept him out for an unnecessarily long amount of time today and you can't help but think that he might have even won the race had Ferrari pitted him at a sensible time.

Lastly, I'm a bit disappointed in Sainz. He's generally been very close to Hülkenberg in pace, but still a bit behind and that little difference usually translates into a couple of positions. I really hope he can raise his game and trump his teammate more often than not or he'll blow his credentials as a potential WDC. He was a match for Verstappen as a Toro Rosso driver and these three races have been slightly below expectations for him.

[Hawkmoon]

Is it going too far to starting thinking of Verstappen as a faster version of Maldonado? The guy seems incapable of making a clean pass. D***head indeed.

[555-04Q2]

Great race in the end! Pity about Max on Vettel, but great win for Danny.

[truefan72]

I'm not really happy at how the race turned out as I feel that Bottas was robbed of a win here. I don't like the guy, nor do I rate him highly, but Red Bull just lacked their way into a win here today. I'd need to rewatch that part of the race, but I'm fairly certain that Merc and Ferrari had little time to react when the SC came out as they were almost at the pit entry, whereas Red Bull had a couple more seconds which they put to good use. Sometimes with the SC it's all down to which part of the track you're in...

I rewatched that part and followed it on the app as well:
At the time of the Safety Car Verstappen was ahead of Hamilton and Ricciardo about 4 seconds behind.
They were all approaching turn 17 (the end of the long back straight) when the SC came out.
Both Red Bulls went into the pits. Hamilton didn't and kimi probably had no need too.
It was too late for bottas and vettel.
Mercedes just botched the call. and as usual will have some long debrief and come out wuith a hollow explanation 2 days from now, with some borken radio or telemetry excuse.


And if something struck me about the top two teams today, it was mostly the fact that Ferrari completely screwed with Räikkönen's strategy only to get Vettel a chance to pass Bottas, which he didn't capitalize on anyway. They kept him out for an unnecessarily long amount of time today and you can't help but think that he might have even won the race had Ferrari pitted him at a sensible time.

I completely agree, And i was happy that Kimi got some redemption by ending up on the podium. They just used him today and it was pretty sad to see it unfold in such an embarrassing manner.


As for the other Red Bull driver... damn. I've always found him rather overrated and believed that Ricciardo was the superior race driver. He obviously needs to grow up. See how Alonso has been making a large number of overtakes over the last couple of seasons and never seems to cause accidents or get penalties? That's what Max is missing if he wants to become a WDC, and that's where Ricciardo will be beating him every time.

Yes, totally agree with this assessment. RBR were on for an easy 1-2 finish but max was impatient and arrogant in his approach. the 10 second penalty was not nearly enough, given the fact that he was probably going to pull out that gap on vettel anyway, the 2nd victim of his foolishness.


Lastly, I'm a bit disappointed in Sainz. He's generally been very close to Hülkenberg in pace, but still a bit behind and that little difference usually translates into a couple of positions. I really hope he can raise his game and trump his teammate more often than not or he'll blow his credentials as a potential WDC. He was a match for Verstappen as a Toro Rosso driver and these three races have been slightly below expectations for him.

Well, I think it says more about Hulkneberg's talent than sainz imo.

[Nitrodaze]

I have to say, Hamilton has not driven as a title contender in this race.

[Nitrodaze]

When you look at the overtake of Ricciado over Bottas, you have to say Verstapenn was unlucky with the collision with Vettel. I certainly don't think it was inexperience or lack of caution. I expect any racer to stick their nose into a gap like the one that Vettel opened to Verstapenn.

[Nitrodaze]

The inside of that hairpin seems a bit tricky to be honest, a bit dirtier or uneven surface can decide the few inches between a wonderful dive and a crash.

When l looked at the race again, l felt Race control could have deployed the safety car better by ensuring they picked up the leaders. It was not an urgent situation, they have deployed the safety car in a way that has influenced the outcome of the race . I think the FIA have to look at improving the SAFETY CAR deployment procedures. It is abit intrusive to the outcome of the races at the mo; It handed a race win to fouth place man Vettel in Austrailia, and here in China, it handed the race to fifth place man Ricciado.

That said, Ricciado deserved the win, his experience and sheer talent shined through today.

[zako85]

Pirelli did a fine job with the tires if at this point many teams can't figure out the optimal strategy. Red Bull did a pretty poor job with Vettel's tire strategy in Bahrain and now in China. While Vettel was lucky to win in Bahrain, he would be out of podium with or without crash with Verstappen.

[airshifter]

Well, nobody can claim we didn't get a Shanghai surprise with this race!

Even with the safety car and accidents, incidents, and just a bit of crazy mixed in, in the end it still seems as if tires were the major factor for the top teams. With equal tires, passing risks tire degradation issues, so the pass must be quick and it must stick. With tires one step softer, drivers can stay behind and have a bit more time to make a pass stick. If the RB cars can make up that power deficit that well with cornering and braking improvements, then it shows that the Ferrari and Mercedes can be reeled in.

The post race interviews on pit road were telling. Toto admitted they stayed out intentionally thinking that track position would be more valuable than the tire swap. He also said Merc had been on their heels trying to keep up with Ferrari all weekend, and that they need to do better if they want championships.


Amazing job by the RB team and Ricciardo. Not only did they make the right call at the right time, but they did it on short notice and double stacked the cars twice in the pits while still executing great stops. If they could just get Max to calm down they would have had a 1-2 finish.

Just as shocking to me was the fact that neither Merc or Ferrari pitted even a single car behind the safety car.


Good to see Kimi on the podium. He actually seems to have upped his qually game this season, but misfortune in the first two races kept him from better positions. The game Ferrari played at China really made no sense to me unless they could have kept him out long enough to go to softer tires.

[Big Ben]

It's enough a little headwind and the fanboys go nuts against their idol's team. How fast do we forget.

[Bagwan]

I enjoyed that .
From when it began , and all the way to the finish , I didn't know the final outcome .
Having two compounds a little more different from each other made it possible for some actual passing .

We had a "Cinderella story" , with a guy who barely made qually winning the race . And , he was not , by any means , the favourite .

And , we have two teams now , with one that only a few thought had any chance of the championship winning a race .

Three teams are in the hunt . That's three .

I hate the halo , but I'm loving the season so far .

Now , Merc needs to win one .

[Starter]

When you look at the overtake of Ricciado over Bottas, you have to say Verstapenn was unlucky with the collision with Vettel. I certainly don't think it was inexperience or lack of caution. I expect any racer to stick their nose into a gap like the one that Vettel opened to Verstapenn.
You are correct that a real racer will occasionally get themselves in trouble with an optimistic over take and that's part of what it takes to be a champion. You have to be both fast and aggressive to spend time at the front. But with Max the body of evidence over time is beginning to seem more chump than champ. He needs to have a serious rethink about when and where to demonstrate aggression.

[Bagwan]

You are correct that a real racer will occasionally get themselves in trouble with an optimistic over take and that's part of what it takes to be a champion. You have to be both fast and aggressive to spend time at the front. But with Max the body of evidence over time is beginning to seem more chump than champ. He needs to have a serious rethink about when and where to demonstrate aggression.

With Ricciardo , "the last of the late brakers" behind you , you know what to expect .
With Max , you don't know at all what's coming .

[Zico]

You are correct that a real racer will occasionally get themselves in trouble with an optimistic over take and that's part of what it takes to be a champion. You have to be both fast and aggressive to spend time at the front. But with Max the body of evidence over time is beginning to seem more chump than champ. He needs to have a serious rethink about when and where to demonstrate aggression.

Agreed on the whole, he has hit a bad patch but I still see a lot of potential in Max. The saying that you cant always make a slow driver fast but you can reign a fast guy in comes to mind. Roman went the same thing for even longer but came out the other side of it. Max will too... I'm sure of it.

[N4D13]

Has anyone noticed how we seem to have forgotten about the halo already?

[Bagwan]

This is from post #35 :
"I hate the halo , but I'm loving the season so far ."

Sorry to quote myself , but "we" doesn't apply here , obviously .

I'm trying to focus on how good the season is , despite that cockpit thong thing . I hate that thing . I even hate the name of that thing .

But , the season is great , isn't it ?
You just don't know who will win , and I think that's great .
So , we should talk about that , because that's a beautiful thing , not an ugly one .

[Starter]

Forgotten? Hardly. And I have to say it's quite uncomfortable to hold my nose through the whole race.

[Bagwan]

Forgotten? Hardly. And I have to say it's quite uncomfortable to hold my nose through the whole race.

Because of where the thong's been ?

[Starter]

Because of where the thong's been ?
You're cracking me up. Yeah, butt the halo does remind one a bit of a thong doesn't it?

[krissucool]

you are correct that a real racer will occasionally get themselves in trouble with an optimistic over take and that's part of what it takes to be a champion. You have to be both fast and aggressive to spend time at the front. But with max the body of evidence over time is beginning to seem more chump than champ. He needs to have a serious rethink about when and where to demonstrate aggression.

he is 20!

[555-04Q2]

Has anyone noticed how we seem to have forgotten about the halo already?

Nope, I still see the bloody thing! My wife complains as I swear every time I see it on the onboard shots. Also, watching the driver clamber over if before and after a race is sad.

F1 is an open wheel formula FFS!

[Bagwan]

Nope, I still see the bloody thing! My wife complains as I swear every time I see it on the onboard shots. Also, watching the driver clamber over if before and after a race is sad.

F1 is an open wheel formula FFS!

I tend to growl when I see it , and my girl has learned not to ask what the growl is about , as that's when the swearing starts .

[schmenke]

Nope, I still see the bloody thing! My wife complains as I swear every time I see it on the onboard shots. Also, watching the driver clamber over if before and after a race is sad.

F1 is an open wheel formula FFS!

Couldn't agree more.


P.s. long time no see 555. Good to see you back.

[Bagwan]

Couldn't agree more.


P.s. long time no see 555. Good to see you back.

And , nice also to see you , schmenke .

[555-04Q2]

Couldn't agree more.


P.s. long time no see 555. Good to see you back.

Yeah, been lost in the wilderness! Great to see you again too...been too long!

You well old chap?

[555-04Q2]

I tend to growl when I see it , and my girl has learned not to ask what the growl is about , as that's when the swearing starts .

It might grow on me, but for now...#@!%/###!!!!

[Bagwan]

It might grow on me, but for now...#@!%/###!!!!

That's exactly what I said when she asked me about it last time .

And I don't mean the "might grow on me" part .

[555-04Q2]

That's exactly what I said when she asked me about it last time .

And I don't mean the "might grow on me" part .

Hehehe!!!