After Qualifying TSU was penalised 3 grid places for blocking BOT in Q3, so in addition to BOT’s 3-place penalty for his pit lane spin in FP2, here’s the grid: VER, HAM, NOR, PER, BOT*, GAS, LEC, ALO, STR, RUS, TSU*, SAI, RIC, VET, GIO, LAT, OCO, RAI, SCH, MAZ
Pit lane is open; cars can make their way to the grid
Everyone finds their grid spot without incident
Air temperature 26°C; track 53°C; doesn’t look like it’ll rain
FIA say risk of rain during the race is 40%
VER lead everyone away on the formation lap
Mostly mediums, except NOR, PER, GAS, LEC, ALO, STR and TSU all on softs, and just RAI on the hard compound
01/71: VER leads into Turn 1
GAS, LAT and MAZ collide in Turn 3
02: LEC pits with a damaged front wing
TSU all over the rear of RIC
LAT and GAS put too
GAS’ left rear suspension is broken
03: VER fastest lap 1:10.031
Radio from HAM reporting debris (from lap 1 incident) hit his front left tyre
Oh, HAM thinks the debris came off VER’s car
04: VER f/lap 1:09.834
Replay of the start shows LEC tapped GAS twice
05/71: VER, HAM, NOR, PER, BOT, ALO, RUS, RIC, TSU, SAI, VET, RAI, OCO, GIO, MAZ, SCH, LEC, LAT, STR; out: GAS
Timing screen error: STR is actually P6, behind BOT
No investigation necessary for lap 1 Turn 3 incident
07: TSU takes P9 from RIC
RIC falling down the order – he’s dropped all the way down to P13
09: (Delayed) Radio from RIC, “No power, no power”; “We think it’s recovered”
10/71: VER, HAM, NOR, PER, BOT, STR, ALO, RUS, TSU, SAI, VET, RAI, RIC, OCO, GIO, MAZ, SCH, LEC, LAT
PER takes P3 from NOR; an easy pass at Turn 3
11: BOT closes up and breezes past NOR for P4
12: HAM consistently ~2.5-3sec behind VER
13: Radio for NOR, “Plan A, looking to extend”
TSU closing on RUS
LEC finally past SCH for P17 after LEC pitted on lap 2
14: LEC takes P16 from MAZ
15/71: VER, HAM, PER, BOT, NOR, STR, ALO, RUS, TSU, SAI, VET, RAI, RIC, OCO, GIO, LEC, MAZ, SCH, LAT; out: GAS
17: Will Mercedes try to pit first and undercut the Red Bulls?
18: Radio for RUS, “Plan B due to reliability” – sounds like Williams want to move to 2-stop; is the car overheating?
19: GIO all over the rear of OCO, harrying him for P14
Radio from HAM and VER suggests they’re both struggling for grip
TV zooms in on their tyres; seems ok
20/71: VER, HAM, PER, BOT, NOR, STR, ALO, RUS, TSU, SAI, VET, RAI, RIC, OCO, GIO, LEC, MAZ, SCH, LAT
21: VER f/lap 1:09.585
SCH dives inside teammate MAZ into Turn 3 but MAZ hangs on to P17
22: VER f/lap 1:09.564
MAZ pits
24: LEC takes P15 from GIO
25/71: VER, HAM, PER, BOT, NOR, STR, ALO, RUS, TSU, SAI
GIO pits
LEC tucked up behind OCO… and around the outside at Turn 4 to take P14
HAM pushing hard, touched the gravel but catches it before it spins
26: RUS pits from P8; hard tyres go on; slow stop – topping up air?; rejoins P17
27: PER pits from P3; hard tyres go on; rear left slow coming off; rejoins P5
28: BOT pits; hards; rejoins P4, clearly ahead of PER
ALO and VET pit too
29: HAM pits; hards; rejoins still P2
30: VER pits; hards; rejoins still P1
BOT f/lap 1:09.071
31: HAM f/lap 1:09.066
32: VER f/lap 1:09.041
NOR pits; hards go on; rejoins P7, right behind RAI … and then passes him for P6
Radio from VER, something about BBW (brake by wire)
33: VER f/lap 1:08.992
HAM f/lap 1:08.362
Radio from HAM, “Lots of de-rates everywhere” (that’s probably due to the battery charging)
34: Radio for VER telling him “These are the critical laps for the stint”
Tweet from Williams says they’re managing a power unit issue on RUS’ car
35/71: VER, HAM, BOT, PER, SAI, NOR, RAI, RIC, LEC, OCO, STR, ALO, TSU, VET, GIO, MAZ, SCH, RUS, LAT; out: GAS
Half distance
36: Radio from HAM asking if he needs to manage more; “No, we’re thinking in the opposite direction”
37: Radio for RIC, “Box to overtake RAI”
RAI and OCO pit … so RIC is told to stay out
LEC pits
38: Radio from HAM, “How do I reset my dash – delta?”; sounds like quite a lot of fiddling
RUS pits and is pushed into the garage
40/71: VER, HAM, BOT, PER, SAI, NOR, RIC, STR, ALO, TSU, VET, GIO, RAI, LEC, OCO, MAZ, SCH, LAT; out: RUS, GAS
VER laps VET (P11)
41: Radio for TSU telling him to push; TSU snaps back that he is
42: SAI pits from P5; rejoins P7
LEC gets close to RAI as he takes P13
RIC pits too; rejoins P15
SCH takes P16 from teammate MAZ
Radio from RAI concerned that LEC hit his front wing
44: Radio from ALO, furious that letting VER lap him meant SAI could pass him
45/71: VER, HAM, BOT, PER, NOR
SAI takes P6 from STR
46: Radio from HAM asking how much time he’s losing on the straights; “2.5 tenths”
LEC inside GIO to steal P11
47: Next for VER to lap is NOR (P5)
48: PER closing on BOT; he’s ~1.5sec behind
49: TSU shouting at his engineer again… or maybe that’s just how he is normally
50/71: VER, HAM, BOT, PER, NOR, SAI, STR, ALO, TSU, VET, LEC, GIO, RAI, OCO, RIC, SCH, MAZ, LAT; out: RUS, GAS
VET locks up; LEC closes right up; with DRS, he easily passes the Aston Martin for P10
51: Clouds are getting a bit darker
52: Radio from VER, something about his brakes again; he’s advised to stay off the kerbs; VER frustrated
53: Radio for VER clarifying it’s braking for T10 on the kerbs
54: VER laps NOR (P5)
LEC has a go at passing TSU but the AlphaTauri hangs on to P9
55/71: PER pits; mediums go on; rejoins still P4
RIC takes P14 from OCO
56: LEC closes on ALO; takes P8
57: Radio for HAM telling him the gap to VER is 8.8sec; “What do you want me to do? I can’t close that gap”
PER f/lap 1:08.049
58: PER f/lap 1:07.894
Radio for HAM telling him he’s exceeding track limits at Turn 10 again
59: LEC closing on STR
RIC takes P13 from GIO
60/71: VER, HAM, BOT, PER, NOR, SAI, STR, LEC, ALO, TSU, VET, RAI, RIC, GIO, OCO, SCH, MAZ, LAT; out: RUS, GAS
LEC takes P7, so now he’s behind teammate SAI
61: Radio from VER because he’s seeing big black clouds at Turn 3
62: Radio from HAM asking about rain; told there’s nothing forecast
63: HAM is 12sec behind VER, 28sec ahead of BOT – enough for a pit stop?
64: BOT is behind RIC (P13) but their lap times are almost the same
65/71: VER, HAM, BOT, PER, NOR, SAI, LEC, STR, ALO, TSU, VET, RAI, RIC, OCO, GIO, SCH, LAT, MAZ
66: SAI passes HAM to unlap himself
67: PER 7sec behind BOT and closing up as BOT struggles with backmarkers (well, midfield markers)
68: Radio from HAM asking if BOT is under pressure; what’s he planning?
69: RAI takes P11 from VET
Radio for NOR warning him there’s a few drops of rain possible
70/71: HAM pits; softs go on; rejoins still P2 but alongside STR (P8)
71 = final lap: PER under 2sec behind BOT
VER takes the chequered flag
HAM P2, f/lap 1:07.058
BOT P3 with PER right behind him
…and now it starts to rain 🙂
Interviews:
VER: “Straightaway I felt a good balance in the car, was good to manage the tyres from the start. We just kept on going, hit our lap times. I’m looking forward to next week!”
HAM: “Bit of a lonely race really, just trying to keep hold of these tyres.”; “They’re faster, there’s not much I can do in that respect. We need to find some performance from somewhere.”
BOT: “From where I started, this was the maximum today. Damage limitation. It was getting a bit close at the end [with Perez] and I’m glad we could defend as it’s been a while since I’ve been on the podium.”
Provisional result: VER, HAM*, BOT, PER, NOR, SAI, LEC, STR, ALO, TSU; RAI, VET, RIC, OCO, GIO, SCH, LAT, MAZ
DNF: RUS, GAS
*HAM fastest lap
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