09/07/2017
NEWS STORY
While today's race has some way to go if it is to prove even half as entertaining as the recent Azerbaijan race, one has to admit that a lot of the elements for it to be a corker are in place.
First off, we have Baku 'villain' Sebastian Vettel starting alongside Valtteri Bottas, while Lewis Hamilton, courtesy of his gearbox penalty starts from row 4.
Directly behind Bottas and Vettel we have Kimi Raikkonen and the Red Bull duo, a combination that promises great fun and games at the first corner, think Spa, think Spain, think...
And then you have Hamilton, who is surrounded by Grosjean, Perez, Ocon and Sainz.
Think about that for a minute. Surely if there are four drivers you would want to steer clear of at the start of a race - any race - at least two of those names would come to mind.
Throw in Fernando Alonso starting from sixth row... and that's only Turn 2 (what was Turn 1).
Then there is the question of the weather. Though it has rained quite a bit this weekend, it has never hit the track during an F1 session. Between them yes, but not during, indeed, mostly at night.
With that in mind, though the race will start dry, a heavy storm is expected soon after. And while one thinks of the hills as being green and filled with music and sunshine, spare a thought for how they got so green in the first place.
Then there's tyre strategy. According to Pirelli there are three options: one 26-lap stint on supersofts and one 25-lap stint on softs being the quickest, followed by an 18-lap stint on ultrasofts and 33-laps on softs or alternatively, a 29-lap stint on ultrasofts and then supersofts.
However, with unexpectedly warm temperatures this weekend, combined with good track grip, there has been very little running on the yellow-banded tyres, with some drivers, namely Vettel and Bottas, not running them at all thus far.
And with Pirelli believing that the minimal difference in performance between the tyres could lead to some (Hamilton and the Bulls?) favouring the softs, this could prove interesting over the course of the afternoon.
Of course, with the weather gods expected to play a part this afternoon, this could all go out the window.
Having been given his final warning by the FIA, Vettel will need a clean afternoon, and already the Mercedes duo have said that will not play games by trying to back him up. On the other hand, Raikkonen could cause Hamilton some issues.
Then there's those feuding Pink Panthers, will Esteban and Ocon trip over one another for the third successive race or will common sense prevail.
At their home race the Red Bull duo will want a good result but perhaps the situation - despite Ricciardo's win in Baku - was best summed up last night in the Fanzone, when the Australian said it was Verstappen's turn to win. "But first I have to finish," said the teenager, only half-joking.
Haas has had a strong weekend thus far, and but for that broken suspension Magnussen might have been right up there with his teammate. All that remains is for the Frenchman to have no brake issues and an expletive free afternoon... a hard call on both counts.
Despite reverting to the Spec 2 engine, Alonso still qualified ahead of his teammate, though only just, and will hopefully add to the points he claimed in Baku.
Renault faces another tough afternoon, but it should still be a doddle compared to Williams where both drivers have struggled since the opening session, the much anticipated updates appearing to result in the team taking a step backwards, and all this after a monumental afternoon in Azerbaijan.
As ever, Red Bull has put a lot of effort into this event, and at a time Chase Carey talks of Super Bowls, it's refreshing to see a race where we get a glimpse of the local culture, even if it does edge towards going a little OTT at times.
The pitlane opens and the drivers begin making their way to the grid. Air temperature is 28 degrees C, while the track temperature is 47 degrees. There is also a strong wind.
Though it is currently bright and sunny, there are dark clouds in the distance, a fact that will delight some drivers but not all. Race Control warns that there is a 60% chance of rain.
As the field heads off on the warm-up lap, Wehrlein is starting from the pitlane, Sauber having changed his engine overnight.
A real mixture of rubber, while most are on the ultrasoft, Hamilton is the only top ten starter on supers. Hulkenberg is also on the red-banded tyre, as is Magnussen, Stroll and Wehrlein. Palmer and Massa are on softs.
The grid forms.
They're away. Great starts from Bottas, Ricciardo and Grosjean, while Verstappen loses a number of positions as he takes ages to get off the line.
On the run to the first corner, Hamilton is trapped between the Force Indias, the Briton using the full width of the track to stay out of trouble.
Ricciardo almost has Vettel in T2 but the German holds him off and in the process Raikkonen almost takes advantage.
While the leaders head off towards T3, there is carnage behind, Verstappen is off into the gravel and dust fills the air.
Alonso, who had passed Kvyat at the start, is hit from behind by the Russian, the Spaniard spins and hits Verstappen in the process.
Is there any damage," Alonso is asked. "Yeh, a lot," he replies. "A lot of damage to the rear end. I don't know why they push so hard, this isn't bowling."
At the end of lap 1, it's: Bottas, Vettel, Ricciardo, Grosjean, Raikkonen, Perez, Hamilton, Ocon, Sainz, and Massa.
As Verstappen slowly makes his way back to the pits, Kvyat and Alonso pit. His car in serious trouble, Verstappen is told to park his Red Bull.
"I think he jumped the start," says Vettel of Bottas.
As Raikkonen passes Grosjean, Hamilton is caught between the Pink Panthers.
While Kvyat has rejoined the race, Alonso's race is over, the irony being that the driver who caused the incident continues while his two victims are out.
The Stewards are investigating Bottas' start.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Spielberg, here.
After 5 laps, Bottas leads Vettel by 2.5s, with Ricciardo a further 1.5s behind. Hamilton passes Perez to take 6th.
Despite all the problems in previous sessions, the Williams duo are currently running 9th (Massa) and 10th.
As Hamilton closes on Grosjean, Sainz complains: "Same problem guys, come on... this is impossible." Not clear what the issue is but he is told the race is long.
DRS sees Hamilton makes quick work of Grosjean, while the Stewards announce they are investigating the first lap clash.
Ricciardo is told to watch his tyre temperatures which a maxing out.
Kvyat is handed a drive though for causing a collision. The Russian is already running last, the object of numerous blue flags as he is lapped by the leaders.
Out front, Bottas posts a new fastest lap (9.000) as he builds a 4.7s lead.
Just 12 laps in and Verstappen is on the pit-wall talking to Christian Horner, much to the disappointment of his many thousands of fans.
As Hamilton closes in, Raikkonen is given instructions on adjustments to make on his steering wheel, but the Finn isn't finding it easy.
Asked to give feedback on his (supersoft) tyres, Hamilton reports it is already oversteering.
At the end of lap 15, Hulkenberg is the first driver to make a scheduled pit stop, the German switching to softs. He rejoins in 17th (of 18).
Almost 10s down on Hamilton, Grosjean is now under pressure from the Force India duo.
"I have a blister on my left front," warns Raikkonen. Ericsson has a similar problem.
"Plan A, Plan A" Vettel is told.
While attention focusses on Hamilton's pursuit of Raikkonen, there are other battles shaping up, including Stroll/Magnussen and Palmer/Vandoorne.
"Hamilton is one-tenth faster than us in clean air, but not scary," Ricciardo is told.
Out front, on lap 22, Bottas posts a new fastest lap (8.959).
Hamilton still unable to get close to Raikkonen, the Briton warned that his left-front brake temperature is climbing. "Do what you can to manage it," he is told.
Another fastest lap from Bottas (8.777).
No further action to be taken in terms of Bottas' 'incident', which clearly wasn't a jumped start.
All of which is bad news for Vettel who is now 7.9s adrift of the Finn.
Under continued pressure from Hamilton, Raikkonen is unhappy with the backmarkers' failure to heed the blue flags.
From out of nowhere, Raikkonen goes quickest in S3, posting a PB (9.061).
Magnussen slows suddenly with an issue. "No power steering, oh man I cannot believe this," says the Dane "**** this!" Despite what is clearly a terminal issue he makes it back to the pits.
"I can't get by guys," admits Hamilton, who subsequently pits - at the end of lap 31. He rejoins still in fifth, on ultras, albeit now 20s down on Raikkonen.
Vandoorne also pits.
As he posts another PB (9.052), Raikkonen is told of Hamilton's stop and told to carry on as he is. Elsewhere, Vettel says he is beginning to get vibrations from his tyres.
Ricciardo pits at the end of lap 33, switching to supers he rejoins in 4th.
Next time around Vettel pits, switching to the ultras he rejoins in third.
Meanwhile, on the softs, Hamilton has posted 7.867, which is a new official lap record, beating that set by Michael Schumacher in 2003.
Perez pits at the end of lap 35, as does Stroll. Bottas, Raikkonen, Grosjean, Ocon, Massa and Sainz are the only drivers still to stop.
As Grosjean pits, replay shows Bottas losing a little time behind Perez as the Mexican rejoined the race.
Vandoorne is under investigation for "ignoring blue flags", Raikkonen having complained about the youngster.
"The rear end doesn't feel good," warns Hamilton. "I've got far too much front wing."
Shortly after, Hamilton asks if he's being investigated, the Briton having seen on the giant TV screens the fact that VAN is under investigation.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Spielberg, here.
"There's not much left in the tyres," complains Bottas, who immediately pits (lap 41).
It's not a great stop and he rejoins 1.7s down on race leader Raikkonen and only 2.8s ahead of Vettel.
"Keep pushing as you are," Raikkonen is told, "Hamilton has bad balance. Good job!"
After 42 laps, Raikkonen and Massa are the only drivers still to stop.
A nice move sees Bottas pass his countryman as they head into T4, the Mercedes driver retaking the lead and the Ferrari driver pitting.
As Raikkonen rejoins in 5th, Vettel is now 4.8s down on Bottas.
Vandoorne is handed a drive-through for ignoring the blue flags.
"Box, box Carlos, box, box, we need to retire." The Spaniard duly obliges. "What a glorious race," he sighs as the Toro Rosso is pushed into its garage.
8.4s down on Hamilton, Raikkonen goes quickest in S3.
At the end of lap 47, Massa finally pits, the last man to do so.
Like his teammate, Vettel goes quickest in S3, the German 4.22s down on the race leader.
After 48 laps, it's: Bottas, Vettel, Ricciardo, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Grosjean, Perez, Ocon, Massa and Stroll.
The Ferraris seem happier with the supersofts than the Mercedes.
"This tyre will be good until the end," Massa is told, "so we can race hard with Ocon."
A new fastest lap for Vettel (7.713), as Hamilton admits: "I'm struggling out here!" "OK, we'll look at the options," comes the reply.
Just outside the top ten, Palmer leads the way, the Briton just 1.227s down on Stroll.
Now it's Raikkonen's turn to go quickest, the Finn posting 7.680 as he closes to within 6.9s of Hamilton, who, struggling or not, maintains a healthy pace.
However, next time around Raikkonen runs wide in T1 and drops to 10.1s behind the Mercedes.
Despite his struggles, Hamilton posts a new fastest lap (7.608) as he closes to within 2.7s of Ricciardo and 11.5s clear of Raikkonen.
"I've got blistering on my front tyres," says Hamilton. "Nothing to worry about Lewis," he is told. At which point the Briton posts a new fastest lap (7.511).
Talking of blisters, Bottas' rears don't look too healthy. And Vettel is now just 2.6s behind.
"Let's get through this traffic and then stretch your legs again," Ricciardo is told.
"Keep an eye on these tyres, I'm worried about them," says Hamilton.
As he posts another fastest lap (7.424), Hamilton says he "needs everything now". Meanwhile, Perez says he has a drop of rain on his visor.
Hamilton is now just 1.229s down on Ricciardo while Vettel is 1.163s down on Bottas.
Again, from out of nowhere, Raikkonen produces a fastest sector time (S2), then again in S3.
Hamilton is right on Ricciardo's exhaust, the Briton posting another fastest lap (7.411).
Hamilton closes on Ricciardo and almost passes him on the outside in T4, but the Australian somehow manages to hold him off.
The TV director doesn't know which battle to concentrate on... however, there are no changes, Bottas holds off Vettel and Ricciardo holds off Hamilton.
So Bottas wins, ahead of Vettel, Ricciardo. Hamilton, Raikkonen, Grosjean, Perez, Ocon, Massa and Stroll.
Palmer is eleventh, ahead of Vandoorne, Hulkenberg, Wehrlein, Ericsson and Kvyat.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Spielberg, here.
While Bottas is as modest as ever following his win, one would think that Ricciardo had made it two in a row, such is his ebullience.
Vettel is also full of beans, joking that Bottas jumped the start. The German also insists he only needed one more lap...
"I had a bit of deja vu with Russia, when Vettel was catching up," says Bottas on the podium, "in the beginning I could control the pace, but then the backmarkers made it difficult. But I'm really happy, it's the second win in my career. Thanks guys for the support, and massive thank you to the team for making this possible."
Told about his perfect start, he says: "Yeh, I think that was the start of my life, I was just on it.
"It's a long year ahead, we are not even halfway," he admits, "but this makes for some good points."
"As soon as we put on the supersoft the car came alive and I had really good pace," says Vettel, "I was catching little by little, so the last laps were getting really close.
"I think I needed one more lap, because he was really struggling to get up the hill. Obviously I wanted to win, but nevertheless a good result!"
"It was a fun race," grins Ricciardo. "There were some decisive moments at the start, and then defending from Lewis... it got pretty close but I stuck to where I thought the limit was.
"Max got the home podium last year, I was a bit envious, so it's nice to get it today. I think the second last lap was the tightest, Lewis got close, but it was nice to hold him. I was pleased to see the chequered flag."
As the Australian, decants the Champagne into his Nike boot, Bottas and Vettel are off, exit podium left, they are having none of it. Undaunted, Ricciardo drinks from the 'cup'.
And in seven days' time we go through it all again... as F1 heads to Silverstone, where we now appear to have three title contenders.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Spielberg, here.