First F1 race of the year was terrible, second race pretty good

[crosscourt]

I didnt see it either as i had an emergency this morning on the property but heading over to read about it.

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Looks like rain caused a large change in the qualifying with Vettel in 4th, Raikkonen in 3rd, Bottas in 2nd and Hamilton in 1st. Sainz managed 5th which is impressive but should be a good race with so many cars competitive given the engine changes and weather. Grosjean and verstappen got into an issue that almost got Verstappen a grid penalty but the issue was resolved.

[tlmiller]

Yeah, assuming the race is dry and as hot as predicted, it'll be interesting to see if Mercedes can stay ahead of Ferrari with them being EXTREMELY unhappy with the hot weather, and being completely unable to make the Ultrasofts last even a full lap. Hamilton has no sticker Mediums, so if he were to avoid using Ultrasofts, he would have to do a 1 stop soft - scrub medium, while Bottas does have a new Medium set still.

[tlmiller]

After all practice Mercedes was garbage on the Ultrasoft, no issues in the race as they easily controlled it and it ended up being a rather boring race overall. I actually wasn't expecting it to be that boring.

Sucks for Verstappen. Botas major blunder to hurt the Constructor championship standings to drop himself from #3 to #5.

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Pissed me off when my favorite driver Verstappen goes out with a bad mgu-k. Bottas got himself into a mess at the end of the race and felt sorry for him when Toto called him a sensational wingman. Its tough when your teammate is one of the best drivers of all time. Barichello had that experience in spades with Schumaker. That said Bottas did a great job of stopping Ferrari and should be praised. Vettel did his usual and crashed into Bottas.
Gasly did very well, I was impressed and Riccardo was very good and was praised ob the orange crush who typically cheer for Verstappen. It wasnt the most boring race ive ever seen as the strategy was in full play which was interesting, but by no means was it an exciting race. Hamilton who calls it the go kart track really seems to be comfortable and enjoys its winding qualities. Ferrari even though they seem faster on straights arent particularly impressive on the curves and seem to stress their tires more than Mercedes and Red Bull. Fastest lap of the race actually went to Riccardo.

[tlmiller]

Pissed me off when my favorite driver Verstappen goes out with a bad mgu-k. Bottas got himself into a mess at the end of the race and felt sorry for him when Toto called him a sensational wingman. Its tough when your teammate is one of the best drivers of all time. Barichello had that experience in spades with Schumaker. That said Bottas did a great job of stopping Ferrari and should be praised. Vettel did his usual and crashed into Bottas.
Gasly did very well, I was impressed and Riccardo was very good and was praised ob the orange crush who typically cheer for Verstappen. It wasnt the most boring race ive ever seen as the strategy was in full play which was interesting, but by no means was it an exciting race. Hamilton who calls it the go kart track really seems to be comfortable and enjoys its winding qualities. Ferrari even though they seem faster on straights arent particularly impressive on the curves and seem to stress their tires more than Mercedes and Red Bull. Fastest lap of the race actually went to Riccardo.

Actually, I'll call you out on this. That was 100% on Bottas for that accident. He was passed, and didn't slow enough for how bad a shape his tires was on thus locking up and hitting Vettel. Vettel was 100% completely free of blame.

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Totally disagree and all of the Sky commentators, all former F1 drivers(Brundle/Herbert to mention two)said they agree with me about Vettel. Vettel hadnt completed the pass and the front of Bottas car was still off the rear tire of Vettels car. Sure Bottas could have tried to brake more heavily, but easier said than done and Bottas was already on the fringe of the curve curb, so where was he suppose to go? Now that said, its still a racing incident in my book as both drivers could have shown better judgement but once a driver is pinned into the curve on the inside, the driver on the outside has a far better chance of avoiding given the room on the track. Vettel gets impatient and its happened more than once the last two years, so am I surprised, no way. Ill also mention that Sky has excellent slow motion analysis at the end of the race and even that driver commentator going over the video said he felt Vettel was at fault. Now that said the stewards called it a racing incident so even they agree it wasnt Bottas fault entirely, if at all.

Bottas whether you like him as a driver or not shows a respect for other drivers, and always tries to do the right thing. Thats been spoken of by many of his fellow drivers this year and frankly since he was with Williams.

Mind you Im not a fan of Mercedes or Bottas(I do respect him though) and Im not a Vettel/Ferrari hater(even though Vettel has done some crazy things at times). Im a fan of Verstappen and Red Bull racing and was far more upset at Verstappen retiring.

[tlmiller]

Totally disagree and all of the Sky commentators, all former F1 drivers(Brundle/Herbert to mention two)said they agree with me about Vettel. Vettel hadnt completed the pass and the front of Bottas car was still off the rear tire of Vettels car. Sure Bottas could have tried to brake more heavily, but easier said than done and Bottas was already on the fringe of the curve curb, so where was he suppose to go? Now that said, its still a racing incident in my book as both drivers could have shown better judgement but once a driver is pinned into the curve on the inside, the driver on the outside has a far better chance of avoiding given the room on the track. Vettel gets impatient and its happened more than once the last two years, so am I surprised, no way. Ill also mention that Sky has excellent slow motion analysis at the end of the race and even that driver commentator going over the video said he felt Vettel was at fault. Now that said the stewards called it a racing incident so even they agree it wasnt Bottas fault entirely, if at all.

Bottas whether you like him as a driver or not shows a respect for other drivers, and always tries to do the right thing. Thats been spoken of by many of his fellow drivers this year and frankly since he was with Williams.

Mind you Im not a fan of Mercedes or Bottas(I do respect him though) and Im not a Vettel/Ferrari hater(even though Vettel has done some crazy things at times). Im a fan of Verstappen and Red Bull racing and was far more upset at Verstappen retiring.

Bottas even basically said in his interview that it was his fault....his tires were in too bad a condition and he couldn't get slowed.

[crosscourt]

Thats not how I took those comments as Bottas had the inside position but yes his tires were bad enough that Vettel should have given him more room.
If you want to get aggressive around a car you know has tire issues as reported to Vettel by his own pit crew, then decide to crowd that car to gain position, thats what happens. Riccardo made the same mistake as he got close to Bottas knowing his wing and tires were causing major problems. I was pleased that Bottas by team decision gave back the spot to Riccardo which was the right thing to do. I want all drivers to use better judgement, Verstappen had issues, Vettel has issues and there are a few more. Regardless of what I think( I think it was a racing incident) the stewards have the last say.
Hamilton is now in a great position, going into circuits where he's comfortable and Mercedes performs well.

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With the news that Alonso was leaving F1 at the end of the season it appears he could still return down the road. Jenson Button who had a similar experience with to problems with F1 said Alonso is still holding the door open to returning if F1 improves and McLaren becomes more competitive.