BENEFIT OF DOUBT FOR PERFECT HAMILTON
What probably wasn’t an isolated error from Hamilton in qualifying was overturned – and more – by a definite blunder from Vettel in the race
MERCEDES
He has to be given the benefit of the doubt for the hydraulic problem that was caused by a known weakness in the system. In the race, Hamilton did what he needed to do to clear the midfield then, after the confusion led to him staying out, made no mistake in bringing it home. This was another race that Bottas could have won, and would have done but for the twin fluke of the safety car coming out and team-mate Hamilton ending up jumping ahead by staying out. All credit to him for attacking Hamilton, and resisting the temptation to cause a collision.
FERRARI
The question of how to rate a mighty weekend destroyed by one mistake in difficult conditions is not an easy one. Almost all of what Vettel did was superb, and you could say overcooking it on slicks in the damp was an easy error to make, but it’s the kind of blunder that costs world championships. One of those Raikkonen weekends where he threatens to get involved in the battle for pole, but doesn’t quite, then drives a decent race but with a few weak areas. It was when the rain came that he struggled for pace more than the others and then lost position to Bottas in traffic.
RED BULL
He knew he was on a mission to limit damage thanks to engine penalties, so comparing his pace with Verstappen’s is tricky. Doubly so given his race only lasted 27 laps, during which Ricciardo made decent if not stellar progress on mediums. A good effort in difficult circumstances. The Red Bull was very much the third fastest of the big three, so Verstappen maximised it by qualifying and finishing fourth. It’s difficult to discern too much about relative pace given Ricciardo’s problems, but there were hints Verstappen was stronger. He hung on to the faster cars and did what he could.
FORCE INDIA
Perez had the advantage over Ocon in quali, although left a tenth of a second on the table. His race to seventh place was good, but he was lucky not to be hurt more by his spin, and will be kicking himself for losing out to the charging Grosjean, on fresher rubber, on the final lap. Falling in Q1, 0.293s slower than Perez, looks poor. But considering he sat out FP1 for Nicholas Latifi, then had FP3 ruined by rain, it’s excusable. Aided by conditions, he did a great recovery job in the race to come home just behind Perez and bank a fifth points finish in the past six races.
WILLIAMS
Qualifying didn’t go well; he was well off Sirotkin’s pace thanks to starting his key lap around 10C down on tyre temperatures. In the race Stroll ended up following Sirotkin, jumping him when the Russian had a slow pitstop. But a brake problem meant he didn’t get to the end of the race. Sirotkin made the most of the opportunities presented by Hamilton’s and Ricciardo’s troubles to take Williams’s best quali result since Baku in April. The race was harder, but he ran ahead of Stroll before losing track position in the pits. Did a good job before retiring with an oil leak.
RENAULT
Had the edge on Sainz in quali and the race, then passed Magnussen when the rain came to earn ‘Class B’ victory and the best result of his Renault career in fifth. It’s important to note that only he had the new-spec front wing because the team only had two available and needed a spare. On paper, this wasn’t a great weekend. But the 0.132s deficit to Hulkenberg has to be judged in the context of him running the older-specification front wing. He lost ground with a gamble on intermediates, and then a penalty. Things went against him, but Sainz performed better than it seems.
TORO ROSSO
Had the edge over team-mate Hartley on pace, but engine component changes meant he started last and stayed there for the much of the first part of the race. Pace was fine, but a few mistakes by Gasly and a lot of misfortune (plus the gamble to put him on full wet tyres) held him back. This was a good weekend for Hartley, which given recent problems was much needed. He didn’t quite get the best out of qualifying, but he plugged away to nab a point. What stood out was that he overruled the team calling him for a tyre change when the weather hit, which was crucial.
HAAS
It seemed he might be having ‘one of those days’ when he slipped from seventh to ninth in the early going. But his race slump was down to a balance problem that apparently cleared and made life better. Where he excelled was in the closing stages when he climbed from 10th to sixth. Magnussen would likely have won ‘Class B’, but when the rain came his race unravelled and he slipped behind both Hulkenberg and Grosjean. The gamble on intermediates meant he took the restart 12th and stayed there to the end, unable to match his team-mate’s late rise.
MCLAREN
This was another lost weekend for Vandoorne, whose team confirmed his car had a lot less downforce than it should have done, making him difficult to rate. Things at least seemed slightly less hopeless in the race, although an engine problem meant he was last when it rained. Alonso dragged most of what he could from the car in qualifying. The team’s gamble on intermediates when it rained cost him dearly, because when he stopped he was sitting between Ocon and Ericsson despite a few scrappy moments. So he could have picked up points had he stuck with slicks.
SAUBER
Ericsson went off in qualifying while struggling to match his team-mate’s pace, but in mitigation he had only one practice session to prepare. His race performance was strong, passing Ocon during his long first stint on softs, then keeping his head in the rain to follow
Ocon home. Leclerc made Q3, but perhaps could have outqualified Sainz. After losing a place on lap one, he was in a tight battle on the edge of the points when he was called in for intermediates. A spin and another stop followed, and he was passed by Gasly and Alonso in the closing stages.