Huge props to Carlos Sainz for pulling us through with that constructors' result! That second place finish for you in the standings isn't half bad either. 😁
Lewis Hamilton 2. Valtteri Bottas 3. Sebastian Vettel 4. Charles Leclerc 5. Max Verstappen 6. Pierre Gasly 7. Daniel Ricciardo 8. Carlos Sainz 9. Kimi Raikkonen 10. Nico Hulkenberg 11. Alexander Albon 12. Kevin Magnussen 13. Sergio Perez 14. Lando Norris 15. Antonio Giovinazzi 16. Daniil Kvyat 17. Russell No Points, Lance Stroll No Points, Robert Kubica No Points, Romain Grosjean
Pole Position Lewis Hamilton, Fastest Lap Verstappen
Lewis Hamilton 2. Sebastian Vettel 3. Charles Leclerc 4. Valtteri Bottas 5. Max Verstappen 6. Romain Grosjean 7. Kimi Raikkonen 8. Daniel Ricciardo 9. Nico Hulkenberg 10. Sergio Perez 11. Carlos Sainz 12. Lando Norris 13. Daniil Kvyat 14. Antonio Giovinazzi 15. Alexander Albon 16. Lance Stroll 17. Robert Kubica No Points Pierre Gasly No Points George Russell No Points Kevin Magnussen
Points Position Sebastian Vettel Flag Charles Leclerc
It’s actually pretty wild how much Mercedes fell off right after those pit stops. 🤔 During that first stint, I honestly thought Lewis Hamilton was looking like maybe even the fastest guy out there...
Charles Leclerc is just pulling away from Lewis Hamilton on the hard tires. And now Sebastian Vettel is starting to put some serious pressure on him too... That whole situation with the Mercedes choosing softs was a total blunder on their part. ..
Mercedes looks impressive. 👍 Even if they messed with Lewis Hamilton today by keeping him glued to Sebastian Vettel's pit box, he would have had a hell of a time passing Valtteri Bottas anyway. Bottas’s performance this weekend was actually pretty refreshing. Honestly, if things had gone differently, he could have easily padded a 40-second lead over Lewis Hamilton. His biggest issue is that in previous seasons, Mercedes always prioritized Lewis Hamilton when it came to car development, which meant the car just kept getting worse and worse for him as the year went on. Since Mercedes is basically back to where they were in 2015 or 2016 this year, maybe they’ll actually give him a fair shot.
Ferrari is in deep trouble. It’s obvious their chassis is a mess, and they don't even seem to know why. A 40-second deficit—even accounting for the fact that this track isn't exactly like Australia—is impossible to close. They really need to take a hard look in the mirror and start worrying about 2021...
RB is solid, but nothing special. Honda is never going to be anywhere near the level of Mercedes-Benz or Ferrari when it comes to engine power. Max Verstappen had a good race.👍
Renault is the same story every single season; the engine is roughly on par with Honda, and the chassis is mediocre as usual. I feel for Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo, because they were probably expecting much more than this.
Haas is the only team running a Ferrari engine that actually managed to pull off a decent race. Alfa Romeo seems to be suffering from the exact same issues as Ferrari.
Honestly, things aren't looking great for the season ahead. Mercedes showed some serious pace here last year, but I’ve got this nagging feeling that Ferrari is completely lost right now...
We can wait until next weekend to make a final call, but all things considered, Ferrari looks pretty bad and unconvincing. They're barely six-tenths ahead of Haas...
And unfortunately, there's zero hope from Red Bull Racing or Honda this year either. That Honda engine is still lagging way behind... Renault really needs to take a hard look at what their actual future in Formula 1 even looks like.
1. Lewis Hamilton 2. Sebastian Vettel 3. Valtteri Bottas 4. Charles Leclerc 5. Max Verstappen 6. Kimi Raikkonen 7. Pierre Gasly 8. Nico Hulkenberg 9. Daniil Kvyat 10. Romain Grosjean 11. Carlos Sainz 12. Antonio Giovinazzi 13. Kevin Magnussen 14. Lando Norris 15. Sergio Perez 16. Alexander Albon George Russell No Points Lance Stroll No Points Robert Kubica No Points Daniel Ricciardo No Points
Pole Position, Lewis Hamilton Fastest Lap, Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton Fastest Lap, Lewis Hamilton
Alright, I’ll definitely take what you said into consideration... I’m giving a heads-up to a certain duo on this board: stop wasting everyone's time with these pointless arguments since you two clearly can't stand each other anyway. 😉
There’s no way things could possibly get any worse than they did last season. Back at it again with CNN... I need to see what the deal is with redjackal.
Big props to swifttiger75 and the Conquistadores. 👍
It was a pretty brutal year for TAZ, redjackal, and myself, especially when you look back at how we did last season. It'll be better next year, though.