BACK IN THE DRIVING SEAT
Immaculate Hamilton leads title race after Vettel loses cool again
LEWIS HamIlton did not need help from a German in an Italian car to plant the Union Jack on the world championship summit.
on a weekend of national sporting pride, the British driver did all the essentials himself with a flawless drive from pole to victory in the French Grand Prix. ‘It’s a beautiful Sunday,’ he said.
But for all his own brilliance he was aided by the said German, Sebastian Vettel, in the Ferrari, showing another glimpse of the recklessness that for 12 months has undermined his challenge for a fifth world title.
Five mistakes in that period, including at the first corner at the Paul Ricard Circuit yesterday when Vettel locked up in the 210mph dart, coming from third on the grid. after a fine start, he caught Valtteri Bottas as they battled for second position.
Hamilton watched the scene of the accident back on the screen afterwards, saying: ‘Jeez, he took him (Bottas) right out. oh, man, that’s crazy.’ Vettel’s front wing was damaged; Bottas had a punctured rear tyre. Both returned to the pits for repairs.
By the time the race was over — and the real finger-pointing started — Hamilton had won and Vettel was fifth. So the Brit leads the standings by 14 points.
Back at mercedes came a cry of foul. niki lauda, chairman of the champion team, was furious that Vettel was handed just a five-second penalty for his indiscretion.
‘Why did Vettel not get more punishment for this enormous mistake?’ he wondered. ‘I don’t understand. It’s too little. Five seconds is nothing. He destroyed his whole race and Bottas’s.’ Were
the stewards too lenient? Perhaps a touch, for it seemed unfair that Vettel, the cause of the accident, managed to finish ahead of his victim by carving his way up from 17th to fifth.
Bottas’s car was more damaged. ‘Shocking to drive,’ was the Finn’s grim-faced verdict of his stricken machine after coming seventh.
Hamilton thought the stewards should have given Vettel more than ‘a tap on the hand’. Perhaps a drive-through penalty would have covered it.
But we can leave that aside and focus on the more important matter of Vettel’s continuing vulnerability under pressure. last season, he deliberately banged wheels with Hamilton in azerbaijan, crashed out in Singapore and entangled himself in mexico. this season he went from second to fourth while pressing for the lead only to run wide in Baku. now this.
a few weeks ago Vettel complained that Verstappen, then on a rich run of smashes, should modify his approach. after finishing second, the Dutchman took the opportunity to take a little dig back, saying to Hamilton: ‘ next time, you see Seb you should ask him to change his style. Honestly it is not acceptable.’
It was a bit tongue in cheek. Yet the truth is that Hamilton is driving more cleanly than Vettel. He has not made an error in the white-heat of excitement in the past two seasons. that is a difference between the two men.
another part of the success here was mercedes bringing their new engine. their power is back and
strong, with the austrian and British races coming in the next fortnight as part of a triple-header along with yesterday’s first grand prix in France for a decade.
Vettel refused to accept he had done much wrong, saying: ‘I will watch it again from the outside, but from the inside I didn’t feel I could have done anything differently. It’s just one of those things.’ He seemed quite chipper despite the result. His team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was third, with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo fourth.
For Hamilton it was his first win in three races. He said: ‘When you are constructive, but also criticise yourself, and approach it with new
methods and new determination, it is a great feeling to come up with a result like this.
‘a fresh engine is always a good thing. It put us back in line with everyone else. the start was close and then after that I was comfortable. max had good pace.’
now the hospital list. First, Williams, whose Sergey Sirotkin was handed a five- second penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly under the safety car. no chortling, please.
and next the critical problem of mclaren. this weekend represented the most lamentable farce in their entire history. their cars were three seconds off the pace in qualifying. the race was pretty
much as ignominious. Stoffel Vandoorne finished 12th but Fernando alonso could not make it to the end, though he was classified 16th. Both cars were lapped.
‘this was by far the worst performance of the year,’ said alonso. the Spaniard’s frustration crackled over the radio. ‘I have no tyres,’ he said. ‘I have no brakes. I am out of the points. I am trying my best, but I don’t much care.’
It completed a few days that appear to have sealed the exit of racing director Eric Boullier after five years of disappointment. He may be part of the problem, but his departure will not represent the full solution.