Oh no. I've fallen behind on blogmas... But, Day 10 is here and so is Part 2 of my Season Review.
In my previous post, part 1, which you can find here: https://bronnypreece.wixsite.com/brontalksmotorsport/the-blog/blogmas-day-8-9-f1-2018-season-review-part-1 - I looked at the first third of the 2018 Formula One season. Covering races from the opener in Australia, to mayhem in Baku and steadiness in Canada. Now, it's time to move onto the middle of the season. Starting in France.
The French Grand Prix was held on Sunday 24th June at the Circuit Paul Ricard in the south of France. Sebastian Vettel went into the race one point ahead of nearest championship rival; Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton stuck his Mercedes in pole, with Vettel down in third.
A pretty quiet race to start this third of the season, Hamilton led the drivers away but an over-optimistic Sebastian Vettel pushed too hard into the first corner, tagging Mercedes' Bottas, causing both drivers to pit for damage at the end of the lap. Still on lap 1, a safety car got deployed thanks to an incident at Turns 3/4 involving all three Frenchman on the grid; Ocon, Grosjean and Gasly. Thanks to the first lap incidents, a number of drivers took advantage of the damaged cars including Sainz for Renault, restarting the race in P3 and Sauber's Charles Leclerc, restarting in P6. After the restart, Hamilton pretty much controlled the race, Verstappen, who was running in P2, dropped back and was out of reach to have DRS to try an overtake on Hamilton. By mid-race, Vettel, who had dropped to the back of the field on lap 1 was running back in the top 5. Bottas; in the top 10. The race continued at a steady pace. No car was able to challenge Hamilton who took the victory.
Just one week later came the Austrian Grand Prix. The home of Red Bull and Red Bull Racing's home race. It was the second Mercedes of Bottas that took pole this weekend, ahead of teammate Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari.
A driver who had once won in Austria, Bottas had a relatively poor start, falling back to P4 by the first corner. The Finn recovered to P2, overtaking Raikkonen and Verstappen, just moments later. A clean start for the field, Vandoorne was the only driver to take enough damage to warrant a pit stop. Lucky for him, he could continue to battle on through the race. As for the others, things were about to get spicy. On lap 12, the Renault of Hulkenberg came to a halt on the start/finish straight followed by a gearbox failure for pole-sitter Bottas only two laps later. Ricciardo, at Red Bull's home race, was the next one to fall. On lap 54, the Aussie retired with an exhaust issue, with Kiwi; Brendan Hartley following suit less than one lap later. Hamilton, running in P2 at this point, retired on lap 64, giving Red Bull's Verstappen victory at the Red Bull Ring. A first for the Red Bull team. Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel also stood on the podium.
Next up up was the home race of reigning World Champion; Lewis Hamilton who pleased the majority of his home crowd by achieving yet another pole position.
A slow start for Hamilton meaning he fell to P3 in the opening corners. A hit from Raikkonen caused the home favourite to spin and fall to the back of the field. An incident in which Raikkonen was punished for. A 10 second stop-go penalty in which he completed during lap 14. Two safety cars made an appearance during the duration of the race. The first one came after Marcus Ericsson's DRS failed to deactive, causing him to crash at Abbey. At this point both Ferrari and Red Bull decided to pit both cars. Mercedes stayed out on track to gain track advantage. The secone safety car came on lap 38 when the Haas of Romain Grosjean and the Renault of Carlos Sainz came together. Other retirees of the race included Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. A few laps before the chequered flag, Vettel overtook Bottas for the lead of the race. He subsquently went onto win the victory.
Time for a classic race. The German Grand Prix. This time, being held at Hockenheim. Missing from the calendar the year before, many Formula One fans alike were happy to see it make a return.
A few weeks before in Silverstone, Hamilton achieved pole infront of his home crowd. This time it was the turn of Sebastian Vettel, producing the quickest time in Q3 and giving him pole infront of his home.
A normal race start, so to speak. But everyone knew the rain was inbound. Not too much to keep an eye on in the first few laps bar the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton who had started down in P14 due to a grid penalty. The Merc made it's way through the field, picking off the slower cars, one by one. Back at the front, Vettel's Ferrari was flying. Bottas loosing a tenth, a hundreth, a thousandth, to the leader. By mid race, rain was still on everyone's minds. Teams were making strategy calls based on what would happen with the weather. They didn't want to bring their driver in for slicks and then a lap later, inters. On lap 28, Red Bull's Ricciardo had yet another retirement. Something which would become common in the later season. The rain was still yet to arrive and tensions were rising down at Ferrari. Vettel wanted team orders, however the team did not oblige. On lap 44, the said rain arrived. It was heavy, but, only at the northern tip of the track. Leclerc, Alonso and Verstappen were the only drivers to switch to intermediates, something which would not work out. The rain got heavier and on lap 52, race leader Vettel crashed. He was out. After the safety car restart, both Mercedes lead a one-two, positions they would hold for the remainder of the race. The rain gods answered Hamilton's prayers that day.
The final race before the Summer break. The Hungarian Grand Prix. A race that is either thrilling or boring. It's still a pretty awesome track.
The Mercedes started as they finished the last race. A one-two to begin the Hungarian Grand Prix, with Raikkonen starting third. Vettel would be P4.
At the start of the race, Hamilton led away well with Bottas in hot persuit. A breif virtual safety car on lap 5, courtesy of Max Verstappen who happened to retire early on with engine failure. After the first round of pit stops, it was Hamilton, Bottas then Vettel. Vettel briefly moved into P2 but a clash with Bottas hindered the move and let Raikkonen on through. Bottas was later involved in another incident, this time with Daniel Ricciardo. It was this clash that got him handed a 10-second time penalty which had no effect on his finishing position down in 5th. Hamilton, again, won the race by nearly twenty seconds over Vettel and then Raikkonen.
The summer break was over and the F1 circus moved onto Belgium aka "one the best tracks and races in the history of F1 don't argue with me."
Another pole for Lewis Hamilton, the surprises came in P3, P4 and P5. Ocon, Perez and Grosjean would line up in that order. Beating out the likes of Raikkonen, Bottas, Verstappen and Ricciardo to the hight grid positions.
The beginning of 2018 Belgian Grand Prix was a messy one. A three-car pile up, triggered by Hulkenberg at the first corner brought out the safety car. An accident which heavily resembled the one in 2012, Hulkenberg got away with a grid penalty for the following race rather than a race ban in which people had called for. Another retirment came for Ricciardo only a few laps later, as well as Raikkonen just moments before that. The safety car returned to base on lap 4, letting Vettel, who had over taken Hamilton just before the safety car, put his foot down and go. But, he failed. Quoted "as one of his worst restarts ever," he did however stay ahead of the Mercedes. As the race went on, Mercedes struggled with their tyres. Red Bull's Verstappen on the other hand was having a great day. Past the two Force India's, he was into a podium spot! The race settled down and Vettel went onto win. Hamilton could only manage 2nd and Verstappen 3rd. The Force India's of Ocon and Perez held on to score decent points for the team, finishing in 5th and 6th position.
The Italian Grand Prix. Described as a "special one," this race would go down as a classic. A pole for Raikkonen, the first in a while, giving him the edge on his fellow racers for the race. Vettel and Hamilton would line up in 2nd and 3rd. A one-two for Ferrari meant that the Tifosi were out in full support.
An "iffy" start for the Iceman, having to block off challenges from both Vettel and Hamilton. He retained the lead into the first corner. Drama at the back of the field saw Toro Rosso's Hartley get pinched by the McLaren of Vandoorne, tearing his front wheel off and causing an instant retirement. Going into the first chicane, Vettel and Hamilton came together, spinning Vettel all the way to the back of the field. A safety car helped him however limp back to the pits for a new nose. Said safety car came in at the end of lap 3, and, with Hamilton hot on Raikkonen's tail, he had to be on it. On the start/finish straight Hamilton was the quickest car and got past the Finn into the first corner, revealing Kimi of the lead. However, Raikkonen came back straight away and retook it once again. The real race came in the pit stops. Raikkonen came in before Hamilton, with Hamilton being told to "let it rip." On his out lap, Raikkonen would need to floor it in order to come out ahead of Hamilton after his stop. However, this strategy screwed Raikkonen over. He came out ahead of the Mercedes, but, Ferrari let the Finn carry on producing faster and faster laps. Later on in the race, Raikkonen's left rear became increasingly blistered. This was not good for the Ferrari driver, especially with Hamilton getting closer. However, a lock up for Hamilton gave him a flat spot. This did not stop him. Raikkonen continued to struggle and the now much slower Ferrari had a Mercedes right behind him. With the help of DRS, Hamilton took the lead. He took off, leaving Raikkonen behind. Verstappen was to finish 3rd but a post race penalty demoted him to 5th, giving Bottas the final podium spot.
So, that's the end of the European races. Stay tuned for the final 7 as we go long haul!
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