#F1 Qualifying Review: Hamilton falls victim to British Summertime

· by · in F1 Qualifying Reviews. ·

Brought to you by TheJudge13 contributor Mattpt55

Leaden skies, spitting rain and typically indecisive British weather were the star in topsy turvy session full of delightful surprises. Out of position cars and last minute reversals were the order of the day as the stage was set for a massive Grand Prix tomorrow.

Q1

At the start it was 16◦C with the wind at 8km/h and a track temperature of 21◦C. The typical runners were off with everyone wearing the inters and Chilton wearing a new gearbox as well, good for a 5 spot grid penalty. Typical of the wet, times were slow to start rolling in with the first not coming till 14 minutes to go. The first waves of runners featured Gutierrez at the top followed by Bianchi and Perez but not for long as Ricciardo and Hamilton were already on hot laps. Ricciardo flashed by first in a 1:44 but Hamilton immediately crushed it with a 1:43.676 with Rosberg trailing him into 3rd.

Vettel was in the middle of his first timed lap with 12 minutes to go but the Williams sat silent in their garage, waiting for clear track and better weather perhaps, but a radio call to Perez indicated more light rain and the Williams continued their lonely vigil.

Meanwhile, Raikkonen managed to claw his way into 12th after several entertaining trips round the circuit and with 9 minutes to go the Williams duo emerged. Massa had quite the opposite lock moment on his first serious effort but managed to keep it between the white lines and came across a respectable 5th, only to be dropped to 6th by his teammate Bottas who replaced him in 5th.  The backfield meanwhile had switched to the mediums as the track dried and all the top runners pitted to cover the move. With 4 minutes to go it was all up in the air as Kobayashi was the first to have a go, but there was a mechanical issue with the car and he had to pit before he set a time.

Gutierrez came through next and confirmed the decision to switch tyres as he rocketed to the top of the timing list. Once again the drivers had been warned that going off at Club and Copse would be punished by having times deleted, a feature that Button was the first to try going wide as he lost it going into Club and had his temporary P1 time deleted by the stewards despite the fact that it was not intentional. Clearly, no mercy would be shown today.

With the Ferraris and Williams languishing in the drop off zone as times improved at 2:25 Ericsson had a tank slapper that took him into the gravel and broke the car, no doubt impressing the new investors in Caterham quite thoroughly as well as bringing out the yellows.

And then it got interesting as rain returned to the circuit and drivers expecting an evolving circuit hit an ice rink instead. At the 40 second mark Alonso took an unexpected trip off circuit, spoiling his lap as well as his teammates with no chance to get around for one more try.  AS the precious seconds ticked away Sutil then beached his car trapping the Williams on the wrong foot and ensuring they too would not advance. The session ended with Williams, Ferrari and Caterham going no further and an exciting start to the race tomorrow guaranteed.

Q2

Back on the inters and out quickly to start the show were the Marussia’s, beneficiaries of the ill fortune that befell both Ferrari and Williams. The initial lap times were slower than the wet times of Q3, with Ricciardo having set the early pace at 1:47.98. but not for long as the Toro Rosso’s, typically showing well in the wet, came through to displace him. Button and Perez were in 6th and 7th but all eyes were on the Mercedes as they battled it out with Hamilton winning round one 0.6 seconds up on his teammate with both well clear of the field.

Vettel had been on a burner whilst the Mercedes’s danced and taking advantage of the drying track took P1 from Hamilton with 8 minutes to go but not for long as he too was dinged for exceeding the track limits and lost his time.

The drying track once again prompted the call to switch tyres from Hamilton and with 6 minutes to go Rosberg was already circulating on the Mediums.  Horner made a panicked call to Vettel to box as his fast time had been deleted and leaving him in 14th with time running down. Button vaulted into 4th as the clock ticked, with Grosjean, Gutierrez, Bianchi, Vettel and Chilton in the drop zone.

Rosberg posted a time nearly 2 seconds clear of the previous best effort as Hamilton had a big off. Gutierrez improved on Rosberg’s time as once again an evolving track beckoned and a fierce Bianchi took advantage to top Gutierrez.

Hamilton’s second effort was massive at 1:35 dead, pushing Button into 11th, followed by Kvyat, Maldonado, Grosjean, and Perez.  Button was on a flyer however and fortunately ahead of Gutierrez, who had decided to pay an unplanned visit to the Armco, bringing out the yellows and ending the fairy tale for Marussia, in 12th and 13th, as well as any chance for improvement. Chilton’s gearbox penalty would displace him to 18th with Grosjean in 11th Gutierrez in 14th Maldonado in 15th and Sutil in 16th rounding out the dropped group, Maldonado having experienced a fuel pressure loss which brought his efforts to an untimely end.

Q3

With the rain coming again anything was possible and with 8 minutes left the first times of the session were set, Perez Kvyat and Vergne at the top. Hamilton came through into 1st but barely as he was sliding all over the track as the rain was crushing the lap times as the weather worsened. With 6 minutes to go Vettel had yet to set a time, Rosberg trailed Hamilton by 0.192 and everyone was in the garage.

With Magnussen almost 6 seconds down it was inevitable that Vettel would have a go, the only questions were what tyres he would use and would anyone else bother.

At the 2 minute mark both these were answered as Hulkenberg bolted from the Force India garage on the Mediums as in 7th he had little to lose. That broke the log jam and suddenly everyone was out and trying to make start finish before the checkers fell except Ricciardo, Kvyat and Vergne. Hamilton neatly edged his teammate and was in front prompting panicked calls from his teammate to hurry up and indeed Rosberg barely made the line as time expired. There seemed to be no point as Vettel was almost a second down in S1 and almost 2 seconds off in S2. But then, astonishingly, Hulkenberg’s name flashed to the top of the charts, followed rapidly by Vettel. S3, where most of the time had been lost, had dried and time was being made up in massive chunks.  Hamilton had bailed on his lap meanwhile and let Rosberg through, perhaps thinking he had done his damage and there was no way Rosberg could catch him. Having been set free Rosberg stomped the go fast pedal and took pole away from Vettel as well as his teammate in a staggering reversal of fortune for Hamilton who had been dropped to 6th in the time it took him to get to the pits. The final order was Rosberg, Vettel, Hulkenberg, a resurgent Button, Magnussen, Hamilton, Perez, Ricciardo, Kvyat and Vergne as recriminations no doubt reverberated throughout the paddock.

There’s no doubt in hindsight it was a mistake by Lewis not to continue his lap and Mercedes was quick to blame him post-race as he had been given the choice to bail. But the larger question remains, as McLaren in a radio call told Button to push, once again have Mercedes’ dropped the ball? Is this another sign of how much Brawn’s presence is missed? Lowe looked utterly clueless post race and not the least bit concerned about it as at the least they would’ve guaranteed themselves another front row lockout has they told Lewis to finish the lap.

Regardless, it’s a fortunate day for race fans as with Hamilton in 6th, the Williams and Ferraris at the back and the massively unpredictable weather tomorrow is set to be a cracker of a race.

 

 

Final Results:

# Driver Ctry Team
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes
2 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull
3 Jenson Button Mclaren
4 Nico Hulkenburg Force India
5 Kevin Magnussen Mclaren
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
7 Sergio Perez Force India
8 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull
9 Daniil Kyvat Toro Rosso
10 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso
11 Romain Grosjean Lotus
12 Jules Bianchi Marussia
13 Max Chilton Marussia
14 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber
15 Pastor Maldonado Lotus
16 Adrian Sutil Sauber
17 Valtteri Bottas Williams
18 Felipe Massa Williams
19 Fernando Alonso Ferrari
20 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari
21 Marcus Ericsson Caterham
22 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham

95 responses to “#F1 Qualifying Review: Hamilton falls victim to British Summertime”

  1. “Alonso took an unexpected trip off circuit, spoiling his lap as well as his teammates”

    this is false, Kimi was way ahead when Fernando had the trip off.

  2. >But the larger question remains, as McLaren in a radio call told Button to push, once again have Mercedes’ dropped the ball?

    The only one who dropped the ball is Lewis. He tried to cheat his team mate off another go and miscalculated by a second and then he broke off his last lap while everyone else tried, conditions be hanged. The concept of ‘erring n the side of caution’ is obviously completely alien to Lewis and he proved once again that in predictable conditions he might be faster than Rosberg and he has not shortage of bravery, but when actual intellectual capacity and cleverness is needed, he is sorely lacking.

    • Look at the larger picture FH, regardless of who finished on pole with Hamilton in 6th it’s not ideal for Merc. Given that McLaren told Button there was time to find in S3 it seems like a missed opportunity for Mercedes. Seems a bit lackadaisical to me.

      Also, it’s cheating when he gets ahead of Rosberg and controls the pace, but its OK when Rosberg does it? And if he’s really trying to ruin his time, why did Lewis let Nico by when he bailed instead of staying in his way?

      • Lewis would have risked a grid penalty had be obstructed Rosberg anymore blatantly. Merc were unlikely to protest against their own driver, but the stewards can also act on their own and the scene was shown live on the world feed.
        Rosberg didn’t employ such tactics at any time in the season as far as I remember

          • You are entitled to your opinion, but the stewards decided that it was not deliberate. So it is only a deliberate tactic in YOUR OPINION, not in reality. If a court sentences you for breaking into someone’s house, you are a burglar. If they acquit you, you are not. Simple as that.

          • If you are acquitted it is the case that there was not sufficient evidence to convict you. To have penalised Rosberg they would have needed evidence beyond belief, proving that is was not a cause of human error. The only person who truly knows is Nico himself.

          • Well, you made it sound as if you know that it was deliberately as you used it as an example for Nico using dirty tactics. Doesn’t that contradict your statement?

          • you evaded answering the question. Why did you point at Monaco as an example of Nico employing dirty tactics when – according to your own statement – there is no way to know if it was deliberate or not?

          • FH, there is no way to prove beyond all doubt that he did it…..but there is a mountain of circumstancial evidence

    • But, Rosberg had nothing to lose by going again, whereas Hamilton had it all to lose, if the track remained as slippery.
      I feel the team let Hamilton down, again. They must have known that the final sector times were improving for other drivers as the track had dried out, but they didnt inform Hamilton to continue. Maybe we have been denied an exciting race with the two Mercedes drivers fighting for the lead. 🙂

      • Why is it that when Lewis wins it’s all him and when he doesn’t the team is to blame? Lewis got a pretty unmistakable team radio: “Lewis, if you don’t believe in it [setting a faster lap] then let Nico past”. And he let him past. The team obviously gave him the luxury of choice.

        • But the team could see the times other drivers were setting in the final sector, because conditions had changed. They should have informed Hamilton of that. He qualified in 6th place. So four other drivers, aswell as Rosberg, managed to improve their times by a considerable margin. I dont see how Hamilton could have had a chance to make the correct decision without that information.

          • Nobody had that information. It only became obvious after Hülkenbergs lap, at which time everyone was already on his last lap. Everybody tried irrespecttive of the conditions, except HAM. Who is to blame?

          • You just dislike Hamilton and you will find any fault, real or imaginery, with him.

          • And you are hopelessly smitten with him and cannot accept that he is not faultless. It seems we have reached an impasse.

          • Replying to Hippo comment below….
            I am not “smitten with him”. I dont see why I should accept unfair criticism of him when it would seem likely it was the team’s fault.
            Plus that comment is a bit rich coming from you when you constantly supported Vettel the last few years, even when he cheated and lied.

          • The criticism of Hamilton ids not unfair. The team told him quite clearly that he should set another lap or make way for Nico so he could do so. Lewis broke off his lap and let Nico past. It was his decision alone, the team did not tell him to waste a perfectly usable lap.

            And as for your last sentence. Tell me ONE instance of Vettel cheating in the past.

          • @ Danilo

            Multi 2-1 mate

            ignoring TEAM orders

            As well using an engine mode you were told not to – when your team mate is disadvantaged unfairly because of it

            and then lying and lying and lying and lying about it …..

            –

            Wrap it up anyway you like – but that was cheating

            which is a shame because he had enough talent to beat Mark fairly ….

  3. The more I read about this Hamilton quali thing, the more I realise his mentality is broken. Reading Sky interview. Who the fuck does not complete the lap? This was a big manifestation of a guy cracking/cracked. He was too invested in a good result here. No doubt he’ll finish second now all the pressure is off, but it’s telling.

    I think Nico turning it all around in Monaco will be a weekend that underpins the rest of Rosberg’s career. Big sliding doors moment, and he knew it.

    • Yes, in post race interview Lewis said on his outlap that S3 was still slippy thus he bailed.

      Personally, I think he was trying to out Rosberg Rosberg when he should’ve just been Lewis, put down the lap he was capable of and likely taken pole.

      In fact, thinking about it he should’ve really gone for it as being ahead, if he had an off the yellows would’ve done in Nico which is exactly what happened in Monaco.

      I would also use caution as the race has yet to be run and we’ve already seen today what the weather can do. 🙂

      • I agree. This isn’t the race.

        But I think we saw a symptom of mentality that won’t beat Rosberg.

        Lewis normally would always go, ‘fuck it, let’s have fun, let’s lush to the max, it’s wet. I can make the diff.”

        That guy is gone.

        Rosberg after Monaco forced Hamilton to play the game on Rosberg’s terms. That was the real win I think. Since then, he’s been a disaster.

      • There’s a good chance he can even win tomorrow, but I think today was always as devastating as Monaco as he’s been demonstrated that the – as per Lewis – not-so-hungry Rosberg outfoxes him at the drop of a hat and nothing is as devastating as being shown in no uncertain terms that you intellectually can’t keep up with your opponent.

      • But what if he had an off and ended up in the barriers with his car in a thousand pieces?

        If you think the stick he’s getting now is anything, it would’ve been a lot worse if he had put it in the barriers.

        Someone once wrote when he went for it in Austria, “that he shouldn’t have pushed so hard and it was because he was pushing to make up for his first Q3 run, why he locked up and spun”, now today he made a conservative decision, one which did not pay off for him, but yet he gets criticised. And before anyone says I’m making excuses, I’m not, I’m merely pointing out, that he’s damned if he do and damed if he don’t.

        He gambled and lost, nico gambled and won, on another day, it could’ve been the other way around.

          • But what if your uncle was some fat guy weighing 300lbs, by all account he’d have tits, would you call him your aunt?

            Look hippo, you’ve been down this road with your support for Vettel and you would’ve noticed, that you’ve got those who disliked him, irrespective of what he does and you’ve never waivered in your support for him. So we will never agree with each other about who we support, solely because of personal bias on both sides, those who dislike him and those who don’t.

            So we have come to an impass.

          • Oh come on Fortis, Lewis fu*ked up and admitted it, to his credit. I’m with FH; forget the if, if, if. Lewis made a decision not to finish the lap and it was a mistake; live with it. Everyone out there is taking the chance that they will put their car into the wall. Lewis flinched and paid for it. Only small men keep making excuses.

  4. Hamilton backed off for safety reasons. I know that it has to be true because I read it in the Telegraph.

  5. STILL I RISE!!!!!…..

    Team LH44 forever!!!…. Tomorrow Lewis will unleash taz on all y’all and go H. A. M!!!! So keep bringing the hate😂😂😉😉😉

    • Ahah, there’s my main man. The race will be epic that’s for sure with Alonso at the rear and Ham out of position too. Personally I hope Hamilton gets to second ASAP, so we have a race.

      Honestly I don’t hate HAM, I am merely enthralled at his this mental self sabotage thing he’s mastered so well since Monaco. I’d hammer any driver that was so under performing their latent talent and car.

      • Look, he gambled and lost, it’s the game you play.

        Answer this, what if he had pushed and when he got to sector 3 it was wet and he crashed, then what? What if when Nico got to sector 3 and it was wet and he crashed, then what?

        He took the decision upon himself not to take the risk and it didn’t work, he has to deal with that. Put it to the back of his mind and get on with the job. All weekend he has had the pace comfortably .2 faster. There’s too much talk about mental strength and weakness every time he makes a mistake.

        But I’ll finish by quoting something the judge said earlier in the week…..

        “Seb left the British Grand Prix trailing Alonso by 47 pts in 2012”

        • “Answer this, what if he had pushed and when he got to sector 3 it was wet and he crashed, then what?”

          Erm, well it’s pretty simple. Under your scenario, he’d undo his belts, unplug his bits and princes, hope out of the car and make his way back to his pit box. The marshals would recover the car, probably on a flat bed truck, and deliver it to Mercedes. That’s what would happen under the scenario you paint.

          I’m not sure the connection you are trying to make. Are you saying he avoided risk of crashing and didn’t complete his lap because he could crash? Doesn’t that mean, if true, he’s no longer a Formula 1 driver?

          • @still…

            ” Doesn’t that mean, if true, he’s no longer a Formula 1 driver?”…

            You can’t be serious with that question. Are you forgetting that he already picked up 2 pole position this year in similar conditions? Are you also forgetting that this is the same man who won here in 08 by over 63 seconds, lapping everyone up to 3rd? Lewis’s bravery and commitment is something that should be questioned by anyone.

            He gambled that S3 would still be wet after his out lap and lost. Nothing more than that, it has nothing to do with bravery or cowardice.

        • “Answer this, what if he had pushed and when he got to sector 3 it was wet and he crashed”

          Nothing would have happened because he had already set his fastest time. He still would have started 6th. Any damage to the car would have been fixed before the race.

          • Ok then cav, so then he didn’t gain nor did he lose anything. So his mechanics will have an early night.

          • He had nothing to lose and everything to gain by finishing the lap as Rosberg, Vettel, Button, Hulkenburg and Magnussen did. That’s why he’s not starting 2nd.

          • No one was more surprised that me, stood opposite the pits and the end of the main straight, in the pissing rain, which was soothing my sunburn (… Welcome to the british isles) that ANYONE was going faster, but fair play to those that did. Sports wise we are a great nation of chokers, but why Lewis didn’t finish that lap just to see I don’t know, I thought when he set a great first lap straight out that he’d learnt his lesson to get a decent lap in early, but clearly the idea of just doing another lap and playing it safe was alien. The whole crowd looking like they’d had the stuffing knocked out if them.

  6. I was wondering if Toto Wolff does the voice of Rainer Wolfcastle in The Simpson’s?

  7. Fortis96 – I didn’t see Nicole Floppedasasinger in the M-B garage. Is she at the GP?

    • I don’t know, let me give Lewis a call and find out for you. Hold on a second, I’ve got him on the phone….

      Hmmm, yes, hmmm…

      Ok Lewis, I’ll call you back in a sec

      Ok, cav, just finished talking to him, he said that she wasn’t, but she might be coming tomorrow. So look out for her.

      I know you like a bit of eye candy.

  8. Has anyone else noticed that everyone has left this site except for the trolls, the two people who post articles here, and Fortis who enjoys feeding the trolls for some reason?

    • Not sure I’m following you…

      Are you saying that people who are still here, are trolls?

      As for me feeding trolls, it’s not intentional, I just offer my opinions which differs from most, it’s to be expected, I’m a Hamilton fan and just like how the hippo had to endure his fair share, because he’s a Seb supporter as well as those who support the driver of their choice, it’s to be expected to find people butting heads. But I wouldn’t call them trolls, it’s a free an open debate and don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

      Personally, I find the name calling a bit unnecessary and childish.

    • Talking of that, what has happened to one of our better contributors, Jennie Mowbray? I haven’t seen anything from her for a while.

    • No. In fact I saw some new names in daily news and in the Malone article comments TBH.

      Between the Tour the World Cup and Wimbledon I would expect not everyone is taking the time to comment.

    • I don’t know what’s your definition of “troll” and whether I would qualify, but I’m still sticking around and posting mostly when I feel I have something interesting to say/interject. I try to gloss over/ignore trollish threads, and I suspect many others do so, too.

  9. Maldonado is moved to the end of the grid for having insufficient fuel on board for a test.

  10. Story of Lewis’s F1 career.

    Same old story every year, yet, I continue to support him.

    Look at the way Alonso dealt with the fans and media after the dismal qualifying performance.

    Lewis’s body language on getting out of the car, and his post qualy interview with BBC tell you that the man is completely broken:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/28177926

    At least he seems to have recovered a little and got a sympathetic hearing from Sky :
    http://www1.skysports.com/f1/report/24181/9372654/lewis-hamilton-admits-im-to-blame-after-disastrous-decision-to-abort-final-lap

    The King is dead, long live the King.

    Hail Nico, the new King, the new F1 world champion.

    • “Hail Nico, the new King, the new F1 world champion.”

      Going too far, much too quickly.

      Not more than one month ago everyone was writing eulogies for Nico and preparing the laurels for Lewis (I like to call him Luigi, but nevermind..). Now it seems that everyone is writing eulogies for Lewis and preparing the laurels for Nico. As I said earlier, the contest so far has been finely balanced and the momentum can still swing either way at any moment.

      Nico has finally shown that he had the grit and speed we were all hoping to see; I speculate that his side of the garage is also doing a better job at setting up the car.

      But do not discount Luigi. He is still a tremendous driver, with phenomenal speed and resources. And please do not insult his intelligence; we all mature sooner or later, but that’s no good reason to insult people. He may be broken and desolate right now, but he still has the time and opportunity to step back, take a deep breath, and come back stronger.

      This season is far from over, especially if Mercedes are in for a Brawn GP-style post-mid-season slump.. Then because of lack of money (and JB leading the car development); now because of lack of Brawn.

      • I certainly hope Lewis Luigi makes a great comeback.

        His best hope psychologically might be to accept/think “defeat” and then race as an underdog without any ambitions of the title. That just might make his mind relaxed enough to fight without the fear of losing.

        There are many examples of crucial races in his career where his mindset has let him down, where he has been aiming to be first at all costs.

  11. Alonso almost won 2010 and 2012 WDC almost always conceding pole to McLaren or Red Bull come on Lewis stop bitchin and take it to Rosberg tomorrow.

  12. my take on the quali: damned, that was totally awesome !!

    unless, of course, one happens to be a newby or casual fan – in which case I suspect most would tune out and leave confused and unsatisfied.

    I admit to having no clue as to how F1 can promote and spin this amazing drama to solidify or add to the fan base.

    I bet most of “us” on TJ13 were vocal, rocking on the edge of the seat, and found fingertips tapping uncontrollably on the desk until the last second …

    I know I did, but maybe that was just another old fart experiencing the DT’s 🙂

    • “totally awesome !!”

      I agree! I dosed off during Q2, and only woke up about half an hour after the quali was over. So had to read the reports to see what had happened.. 🙂

  13. Rosberg has a fantastic Engineer:

    “”It was a really close decision and just everybody together, we made a group decision and it was the right call definitely,” said Rosberg, when asked by AUTOSPORT about how near the team came to not going out again.

    “The tendency was to stay in the garage, but a Michael Jordan quote came into my mind: “You miss 100 per cent of the shots that you don’t take”.

    “I said that to the team – if we go out there is a small chance [of pole position], if we stay in the garage there is no chance.

    “I was for going out and they thought about it and made the call to go out. It was great team work and a great decision in the end.”

    Mercedes team radios during Q3:

    Q3 0:36 Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington It’s pretty slippery out here…

    Q3 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis. If you don’t think you can do a lap, then let Nico go. Let Nico go. If you think you can complete the lap, then carry on as you are.

    Q3 0:01 Nico Rosberg Tony Ross Tell Lewis that he needs to speed up!

    Q3 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Copy, copy!

    Q3 0:00 Dave Robson Jenson Button OK Jenson, keep pushing. Keep pushing. There could be a lot of time to find in sector three.

    Q3 0:00 Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington The track’s… slower.

    Q3 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton So currently no one finding time, Lewis. So no one improving.

    Q3 0:00 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg And that’s pole position! Well done, Nico! Go strat one, box, box, box. Really good job, really good job.

    Q3 Nico Rosberg Tony Ross That’s damn awesome! Come on!

    Q3 0:00 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel P2! Atta boy!

    Q3 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton No reply broadcast.
    OK Lewis, I’m afraid that last sector really picked up some pace. So we’ve been bumped mate to… so we’re now down in P6.

  14. Interesting to note that apparently both Airbus and GE have dropped their sponsorship of Caterham. Both sponsors were tied to Caterham through Fernandes’s ownership of Air Asia. It seems neither Airbus or GE logo’s will be on the Caterham cars from the British GP onwards.

    • Not good for them.. Big partners to lose, not helpful in trying to find more sponsors. The lack of pace in the wet though was more concerning.. 109%, so Maldonado starts in front despite being chucked out of qualifying…

      • A few years ago it was Heikki giant killing, with Marussia and HRT off the pace.. Now it’s Caterham adrift. Doesn’t bode well for the future.

  15. Poor Lewis, he looked crushed.

    He’s unfortunate enough to have a pessimistic race engineer like Peter Bonnington, who doesn’t appear to fit very well with his kind of personality. If that wasn’t enough, he didn’t get much help(ful information) on the radio either today in Q3.

    I think Lewis gets his best results when he is being fired up. Sometimes he is able to do that himself, but at other times, that’s his race engineer’s job. That’s the way I see it, at least.

    Yes, Lewis should have completed his lap, just like anyone else driving for pole position should have. Yes, it was his choice to abort and he is totally to blame for this result. Yes, the momentum shifted even more towards Nico. Nevertheless, his Mercedes team hindered more than helped him and that shouldn’t be forgotten in the whole scenario.

    • @ Dan

      is Peter Bonnington a pessimistic race engineer ?

      I’ve only ever heard the comms that are broadcast by FOM – I don’t listen to the discrete channel

      so I don’t know ?

      but he usually sounds pretty upbeat to me …….

        • I’m sure you’re right about that, but what do you call a race engineer who cautions his driver to possibly not even attempt a fast lap, before he’s even crossed the start line?

          Put yourself in Lewis’ position for a moment. The guy you’re talking with on the radio – and whose job it is to guide you – sounds like he has already given up after you sounded a bit insecure on the warm-up lap. Maybe some drivers will respond to this in a “now more than ever” manner, but I believe that Lewis needed building up, needed motivating at the moment.

          That clearly didn’t happen yesterday, so I’m left to believe, that Peter Bonnington doesn’t fully understand what Lewis needs all of the time.

          • I’ve heard Rocky tell Seb something similar over the years …..

            So is that pessimism – or realism based on what facts you have at that time ?

            Hindsight is a wonderful thing ……

          • True, but it seems Mercedes want both to be a team player, hence Nico telling the team what Lewis should do with his gearbox to help get to the finish.

            But I agree, Lewis’ engineer should be geeing him up if he’s that type of personality that it will boost him to giving peak performance.

    • That’s all just semantics. He’s fighting for the championship and he only has one opponent, so it is a no-brainer to cover that opponent’s every move. So the moment that Nico prepares to set a lap, it was imperative that he does so too. But he didn’t and relied on track condition. That’s a total rookie error.

        • What would you call it? It’s an error that a rookie would make, so it is rather unfathomable coming from someone with Lewis’s experience.

          • It’s not an error, in the sense you or I know it. He didn’t just ‘fuck up’ in my opinion. I think he cracked, after seeing sector 1 times and disparity to Nico due to his mistakes in sector 1, and chucked it all and his hands up in the air (metaphorically). So much was riding on it, in his mind, and I think he instinctively choose the weak option which was to make sure he was beaten by judgement error than by trying and losing to Nico.

  16. So with all the hoopla surrounding Lewis’s “rookie” mistake in qually, there was also another “rookie” error of note that has been overlooked and that’s Redbulls decision not to send Ric out to have another go.

    Now according to Horner, “based on the information they had available to them on the pit wall, it didn’t look like the track was going to improve, so they took the decision not to send him out”

    Shame on you Redbull, shame on you.

    • While that is true, you are missing the point that Lewis was out and just didn’t try for the lap.

      • No I’m not missing the point and at no point did I make excuses. I said, he took a gamble by not completing the lap and failed miserably, that’s something he has to deal with.

        But atleast he was on the track and had a chance, Ric wasn’t even given that opportunity. So which is more criminal?

        • Modern motorsport is progressively less about drivers being allowed to make their own choices, so Lewis guessing wrong weighs especially heavy in my eyes. His mistake was more criminal because of that.

          Who knows where the decision of/for Ricciardo not to go out again came from. It could have been Daniel’s own choice of course, but judging from experience, the final decision might have been that of his race engineer, his team principal or it could have come from any of the other engineers sitting in front of half a dozen screens filled with data and statistics. To the casual TV viewer it’s not clear who made that decision and I don’t remember reading about it either in the aftermath.

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