Verstappen claims F1 win
LEFT IN THE DUST: LEWIS HAMILTON MAKES PIT STOP, HAS TYRE PROBLEMS AND LOSES LEAD
Vettel retakes lead and Raikkonen moves to third spot in Driver’s Championship.
After last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix all I can say is, I never saw that one coming. After a dominant display in practice and qualifying Mercedes topped the time sheets with Valtteri Bottas taking pole from Lewis Hamilton by a mere 0.019 of a second.
It was an all Ferrari second row, between three and five 10ths of a second behind the German juggernauts with the Red Bulls split by the Haas cars.
So, we were all set for a Mercedes one two – wrong.
Sebastian Vettel was moved back to sixth spot after the stewards decided he had impeded Renault’s Carlos Sainz during qualifying, creating a new challenge for the German.
An exciting start and Hamilton grabbed the lead challenged by Raikkonen with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the mix, and Bottas slipping back.
It was not long before the Finn returned to the heat of the battle, but then the Mercedes slowed and stopped with a transmission problem.
The VSC was initiated and the front runners dived into the pits for a tyre change, with the exception of Hamilton who stayed out – a decision that was to prove very wrong.
Tyres were a problem with track temperatures higher than had been experienced all weekend, so blistering became a great risk.
Hamilton, having pitted and lost his lead, complained of this problem and then lack of power before his Mercedes was to expire – a double DNF for the Brackley team.
A great win for Verstappen who skilfully managed his tyres, nursing them to the chequered flag as the two Ferraris gave chase but could not close the gap enough to challenge for the win.
So, Vettel once again leads the Drivers’ Championship by one point and the fine second place for Raikkonen moves him into third spot on the driver’s log.
Ferrari has taken a 10 point lead in the Constructors title chase.
A good result for Haas with Romain Grosjean finally getting some points on the board and team-mate Kevin Magnussen adding to his tally.
A race that threw all sorts of issues at the teams and put pressure on Mercedes.
Once again there are problems for Liberty Media management regarding the confirmation of venues for coming seasons. I mentioned some weeks ago that the glamour city of Miami may not be on the calendar due to local objections,
Now it seems Danish capital Copenhagen is having difficulty raising the necessary funding to run a round of the championship in the historic city.
It has also been confirmed that the 2019 German Grand Prix will not happen, after an announcement by Hockenheim chief Georg Seiler that negotiating a favourable commercial deal with the owners of F1 has proved to be impossible.
Sean Bratches, commercial director of Liberty Media, confirmed the news, saying: “Unfortunately, we could not agree with any race track in Germany.”
He continued. “It’s frustrating that we could not reach a solution for a country with such a huge racing tradition, with the reigning Constructor’s World Champion and a four times Drivers’ World champion.
“Apparently nobody was willing to support the race tracks and take away the financial risk.”
But Bratches believed the situation could be resolved in future years.
He was reported as saying. “The interest in Germany is great.
“We know that from our own sources and you can see it in the ratings as well.”
Perhaps my memory is fading, but I seem to remember just a few years back when the viability of F1 in Germany was being questioned.
Attendances at the circuits for a Grand Prix had dropped off, as had television viewership figures.
Strangely, when this information was disseminated the point was made that post the Michael Schumacher era, interest had waned.
Even Vettel’s four world championships and the dominance of Mercedes had somehow failed to reignite the fans’ interest.
Back then the issue of which track would host the event was a problem, with a solution being found in which two tracks would host the race on alternate years, Hockenheim and Nurburgring.
Unfortunately, that endeavour Edited by André de Kock (010) 492 5281 andrédk@citizen.co.za failed and the full burden fell back on Hockenheim.
The reason was the high cost of hosting an F1 event.
Bratches recently made a statement about television broadcasts being free to air in Germany, joking that he had family in Berlin who would be upset with him if there was a charge.
It looks as though that will no longer be of concern as we will now have a hole in the calendar.
That could well be filled by yet another eastern country that offers great tourism facilities and has a lot of spare cash.
This weekend marks the end of the triple-header when the British Grand Prix gets underway at Silverstone circuit, which is particularly favoured by Hamilton.
Let’s hope he has a good one as it is yet another venue that could be dropping off the F1 scene in the not too distant future.